Reviving the Lost Craft of Traditional Boat Building in New Caledonia

In October on the island of Lifou, a double-hulled canoe was launched into the lagoon – a seemingly minor event that marked a highly meaningful moment.

It was the maiden journey of a traditional canoe on Lifou in many decades, an occasion that brought together the island’s three chiefly clans in a exceptional demonstration of solidarity.

Activist and sailor Aile Tikoure was behind the launch. For the previous eight-year period, he has led a program that seeks to restore traditional boat making in New Caledonia.

Dozens of canoes have been built in an initiative intended to reunite Indigenous Kanak people with their oceanic traditions. Tikoure explains the boats also facilitate the “beginning of dialogue” around maritime entitlements and conservation measures.

Global Outreach

This past July, he travelled to France and conferred with President Emmanuel Macron, pushing for maritime regulations created in consultation with and by local tribes that honor their maritime heritage.

“Previous generations always crossed the sea. We forgot that knowledge for a period,” Tikoure says. “Currently we’re rediscovering it again.”

Heritage boats hold deep cultural significance in New Caledonia. They once represented travel, exchange and family cooperations across islands, but those traditions faded under foreign occupation and outside cultural pressures.

Tradition Revival

The initiative started in 2016, when the New Caledonia cultural authorities was considering how to reintroduce traditional canoe-building skills. Tikoure collaborated with the administration and following a two-year period the vessel restoration program – known as Kenu Waan project – was established.

“The biggest challenge wasn’t wood collection, it was persuading communities,” he notes.

Program Successes

The program aimed to restore ancestral sailing methods, mentor apprentice constructors and use boat-building to enhance cultural identity and regional collaboration.

Up to now, the team has organized a showcase, released a publication and enabled the construction or restoration of approximately thirty vessels – from the southern region to the northeastern coast.

Resource Benefits

Unlike many other island territories where deforestation has reduced wood resources, New Caledonia still has suitable wood for constructing major boats.

“In other places, they often use modern composites. Locally, we can still work with whole trees,” he states. “This creates a significant advantage.”

The canoes built under the initiative integrate traditional boat forms with Melanesian rigging.

Educational Expansion

Beginning this year, Tikoure has also been educating students in seafaring and traditional construction history at the educational institution.

“This marks the initial occasion these subjects are included at advanced education. It goes beyond textbooks – these are experiences I’ve personally undertaken. I’ve crossed oceans on these vessels. I’ve cried tears of joy during these journeys.”

Island Cooperation

He traveled with the team of the Fijian vessel, the Pacific vessel that sailed to Tonga for the oceanic conference in 2024.

“Throughout the region, from Fiji to here, we’re part of a collective initiative,” he says. “We’re reclaiming the maritime heritage as a community.”

Governance Efforts

This past July, Tikoure travelled to Nice, France to share a “Indigenous perspective of the sea” when he met with Macron and government representatives.

In front of government and foreign officials, he advocated for shared maritime governance based on local practices and local engagement.

“We must engage local populations – especially those who live from fishing.”

Current Development

Now, when navigators from throughout the region – from Fiji, Micronesia and Aotearoa – arrive in Lifou, they examine vessels collectively, modify the design and ultimately navigate in unison.

“We’re not simply replicating the ancient designs, we help them develop.”

Holistic Approach

In his view, teaching navigation and promoting conservation measures are interrelated.

“The fundamental issue involves public engagement: who has the right to travel ocean waters, and who determines which activities take place in these waters? Heritage boats function as a means to initiate that discussion.”