Hawaiian Surfing
Hawaiian Surfing: Traditions from the Past
JOHN R.K. CLARK
Copyright Date: 2011
Published by: University of Hawai'i Press
https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt6wqm32
Search for reviews of this book
Book Info
Hawaiian Surfing
Book Description:

Hawaiian Surfingis a history of the traditional sport narrated primarily by native Hawaiians who wrote for the Hawaiian-language newspapers of the 1800s. An introductory section covers traditional surfing, including descriptions of the six Hawaiian surf-riding sports (surfing, bodysurfing, canoe surfing, body boarding, skimming, and river surfing). This is followed by an exhaustive Hawaiian-English dictionary of surfing terms and references from Hawaiian-language publications and a special section of Waikiki place names related to traditional surfing. The information in each of these sections is supported by passages in Hawaiian, followed by English translations. The work concludes with a glossary of English-Hawaiian surfing terms and an index of proper names, place names, and surf spots.

eISBN: 978-0-8248-6032-5
Subjects: History
You do not have access to this book on JSTOR. Try logging in through your institution for access.
Log in to your personal account or through your institution.
Table of Contents
Export Selected Citations Export to NoodleTools Export to RefWorks Export to EasyBib Export a RIS file (For EndNote, ProCite, Reference Manager, Zotero, Mendeley...) Export a Text file (For BibTex)
Select / Unselect all
  1. Front Matter
    Front Matter (pp. i-vi)
  2. Table of Contents
    Table of Contents (pp. vii-viii)
  3. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
    ACKNOWLEDGMENTS (pp. ix-x)
  4. INTRODUCTION
    INTRODUCTION (pp. 1-8)

    On November 1, 2005, I received a call from Sea Engineering, Inc., a coastal and ocean engineering firm based at Makai Research Pier in Waimānalo. They asked me if I would be willing to do an ocean recreation assessment for them in Waikīkī. Sea Engineering explained that the owners of the Sheraton Waikīkī Hotel were considering a beach restoration project in front of their property, and they had asked Sea Engineering to do an environmental impact statement. My contribution to the EIS would be to identify the ocean recreation users in that area of Waikīkī, conduct interviews with them, and...

  5. 1 Traditional Hawaiian Surfing
    1 Traditional Hawaiian Surfing (pp. 9-18)

    During the 1800s, Hawaiian and non-Hawaiian writers described surfing as a “national pastime,” a phrase that highlights the prominence surfing held among native Hawaiians. Surfing was an activity everyone enjoyed—men, women, and children, chiefs and commoners. The phrase “national pastime” tells us that surfing was not only widely practiced, but that it was one of the most beloved activities of the Hawaiian people. This is evident in many early observations of the sport, especially those by non-Hawaiians such as William Ellis, a Christian missionary who visited Hawai‘i in 1822, and Nathaniel Emerson, a noted historian in the late 1800s....

  6. 2 Traditional Hawaiian Surf Sports
    2 Traditional Hawaiian Surf Sports (pp. 19-92)

    Hawaiians practiced six different traditional surf sports:he‘e nalu,or board surfing;pākākā nalu,or outrigger canoe surfing;kaha nalu,or bodysurfing;pae po‘o,or bodyboarding;he‘e one,or sand sliding; andhe‘e pu‘e wai,or river surfing. While the four noted Hawaiian scholars of the 1800s—John Papa ‘I‘i, Samuel Kamakau, Zephrin Kepelino, and David Malo—focused primarily on board surfing, each of the six surf sports was just as much a part of the surf culture as any other.

    No other sport practiced by Hawaiians so completely captivated non-Hawaiians as surfing. In his anthologyPacific Passages,Patrick Moser...

  7. 3 Traditional Surf Sites
    3 Traditional Surf Sites (pp. 93-148)

    Surfers in Hawai‘i today ride waves at more than five hundred surf sites across the eight major islands, and it is likely that native Hawaiians surfed at most if not all of these spots. InSurfing: A History of the Ancient Hawaiian Sport,Ben Finney and James Houston list the names of 106 sites that Hawaiians surfed. They compiled their list from the writings of Hawaiian scholars John Papa ‘I‘ī and Samuel Kamakau and from the personal notes of noted Hawaiian scholar and linguist Mary Kawena Pukui, who had written down names of surf spots during her many years of...

  8. A
    A (pp. 151-178)
  9. E
    E (pp. 179-182)
  10. H
    H (pp. 183-228)
  11. I
    I (pp. 229-232)
  12. K
    K (pp. 233-285)
  13. L
    L (pp. 286-304)
  14. M
    M (pp. 305-320)
  15. N
    N (pp. 321-340)
  16. O
    O (pp. 341-356)
  17. P
    P (pp. 357-396)
  18. U
    U (pp. 397-400)
  19. W
    W (pp. 401-408)
  20. Waikīkī Place Names Related to Surfing
    Waikīkī Place Names Related to Surfing (pp. 409-476)

    Native Hawaiians surfed at hundreds of surf spots on all the islands, but each island had one or more places that were especially famous for surfing. More than just surf spots, these sites were communities where food from the land and sea was abundant and where good surf was in close proximity. As important social centers, these places were favored by Hawaiian royalty and are often mentioned in legends and early historical accounts. The most well known were Hilo and Kailua on the island of Hawai‘i; Hāna, and Lahaina on Maui; Waikīkī on O‘ahu; and Wailua on Kaua‘i. But of...

  21. ENGLISH-HAWAIIAN SURFING TERMS
    ENGLISH-HAWAIIAN SURFING TERMS (pp. 477-482)
  22. REFERENCES
    REFERENCES (pp. 483-488)
  23. INDEX TO SURFERS AND SURF SPOTS
    INDEX TO SURFERS AND SURF SPOTS (pp. 489-496)
  24. Back Matter
    Back Matter (pp. 497-503)
University of Hawai'i Press logo