Wahines & Surfspeak

Aloha and Welcome to this installment in the LEGENDARY SURFERS series on Wahines and Surfspeak.

Hawaii Surfers, Bettman Archive, Getty Images

All classes, ages and both sexes enjoyed surfriding in pre-European Hawai‘i and it was important in their lives.

Although early European accounts do not mention who surfed the most, eye-witness descriptions usually refer to adult men and women, with occasional reference to children riding smaller boards closer to shore. Except on those beaches where the most dangerous swells peaked, men and women shared surfing areas equally.

Compared to later eras when a low ratio of surfing females-to-males became the norm, a large percentage of wahines of old Hawai‘i were skillful surfers and often champions. Early European engravings of the sport are full of half-dressed island girls perched on surfboards at the top of a curling wave.116

The Hawaiian woman’s lifestyle both in and out of the water was not what we might imagine, today. “Walking around half naked, beating kapa for the family clothing and bedding, weaving lauhala mats, gathering limu (seaweed) and freshwater fish, and bringing up the children,” summarized Kawika Sands in Wahine O Hawai‘i, written in 1999. “Her tools were anything but fancy. Poi pounders, kapa beaters, gourds, bowls, coconut dishes, stone lamps with kukui nuts burning in them for light though it was generally the children’s duty to keep them burning. Getting dressed was somewhat different for these Hawaiian women. They wore a skirt made from five thicknesses of kapa called the pa‘u. By having an attendant or two hold one end on the ground, she rolled herself up into it. Considering her size, it was probably the most streamlined method. It was a humble existence, yet she was freer and more liberated than her sisters across the sea.”117

Kawika continued: “Today’s societal ideal of the beautiful woman was not that of old Hawaiian society. The Chiefess was considered most beautiful if she were at least six feet tall, and almost half as wide. In old Polynesia, fat meant survival particularly when it came to the long ocean crossings. Something Herb Kane suggested in the early days of the sailing canoe Hokule‘a, further suggesting that this may have actually helped to determine the general physical stature of the Polynesian. Basically, it was the bigger, the better and the women were fed to stay that way!

“Hawaiian women swam, surfed, climbed, fished, ran, and were active in sports... She too paddled and steered outrigger canoes if the kapu allowed. She would even fight beside her Hawaiian brothers (although it was not generally encouraged).”118

One of the best known and glorious battles of ancient Hawai‘i was the battle of Nuuanu. This was the final Hawaiian battle that took place on O‘ahu, ushering in the reign of King Kamehameha and the unification of the Hawaiian Islands for the first time. At that battle, a chiefess took up arms against the invading king’s forces. Wearing a helmet and feathered cloak, and using spears and clubs, she fought to the death alongside her men. It was only after the battle was won that Kamehameha found that some of the warriors who had fought so valiantly were actually women.

In an interesting twist, men did most of the cooking. Hawaiian women would later take pity on missionary women who stood over hot stoves and cooked. Actually, building the imu (an earthen oven dug into the ground and lined with stones), opening coconuts, etc. was hard work so these chores, too, fell upon the men to do.119

Ke-kai-o-Mamala, one of O‘ahu’s finest ancient surf spots, was named after the woman Mamala. Thomas Thrum, writing in an 1896 article entitled, “Hawaiian Surf Riding,” stated that, “Native legends abound with the exploits of those who attained distinction among their fellows by their skill and daring in this sport, indulged in alike by both sexes; and frequently too – as in these days of intellectual development – the gentler sex carried off the highest honors.”120

“This equality and sexual freedom,” wrote Finney and Houston, “added zest to the sport and was important to its widespread popularity. No doubt many an amorous Hawaiian, who didn’t feel at all like surfing that day, found himself paddling for the breaker line in pursuit of his lady love, knowing full well that if a man and woman happened to ride the same wave together, custom allowed certain intimacies when they returned to the beach. More formal courtship was also carried out in the surf, when a man or woman tried to woo and win a mate by performing on the waves.”121

Surfing as courtship is corroborated in a story that appeared in one of Honolulu’s first Hawaiian language newspapers, a publication most likely under missionary influence. In the December 23rd 1865 issue of Nupepa Kuokoa, in an article about “Ka Holomana Kahiko” (Ancient Sports of Hawaii), J. Waimau recalled that at surfing contests held in older times, the men, looking like “a company of soldiers of that day,” would wear red-dyed malo (loincloths) and assemble on the beach. Women would make their way to the beach in matching red-dyed kapa skirts. Then, “they (would) go and join together with the men in surfriding. In their surfing, a man and a woman will ride in on the same surf. Such riding in of the man and woman on the same surf is termed vanity, and results in sexual indulgence.”122

Hawaiian legends abound in tales of love affairs gone good and bad and surfing is an element in many of them. “Great romances could blossom or fade with the rising and falling of ocean swells,” noted Ben Finney, adding that passionate adventures of champion surfers, and some of the most famous courtships began on the edge of the ocean and these are all recorded in Hawai‘i’s abundant oral history. These tales indicate surfing’s significance in the daily lives of the Hawaiian people in the before time.123

Early Hawaiian Surf Speak

As it is today, it has always been. As surfers, we have our own language. Ancient Hawaiian surfers were no different. In addition to the more than 107 surfing-specific geographical areas specially noted for their waves and the many meles which relate a rich surfing culture, another gauge of the sport’s importance in the long ago was common daily usage of specific Hawaiian surfing terminology. Researcher Ben Finney documented forty sum terms, but admitted, “this probably represents only a portion of the traditional surfing glossary.”124

The following list is a compilation of some Hawaiian surfing-specific terminology:

· ‘ahua – A place close to shore where a broken wave rises and breaks again, known also as kipapa or puao.

· alaia – A thin surfboard, wide in front and tapering toward the back, made of koa or breadfruit; sometimes called an omo.

· he‘e – To slide, to surf.

· he‘e nalu – To ride a surfboard; surfing; literally wave sliding.

· he‘e pu‘ewai – Toward the mouth of a stream, or up a stream.

· he‘e umauma – Body surfing.

· heihei nalu – A surfboard race.

· honua nalu – The base of a breaker.

· huia – An especially high wave formed by the meeting of two crests, said to characterize the surf of Kaipaloaoa, Hawai‘i.

· kaha – To surf; to body surf.

· kaha nalu – Body surfing.

· kakala – The surf in which an alaia board is used; a curling wave.

· kiko‘o – A 12-to-18-foot surfboard, good for surf that breaks roughly, but is hard to handle.

· kioe – A small surfboard.

· kipapa – The prone riding position; or, a place close to shore where a broken wave rises and breaks again.

· kulana nalu – The place where a surfer paddles to catch a wave; usually the most distant line of breakers.

· lala – Diagonal surf; or surfing diagonally to the front of the wave; a wave to the right; with muku, a wave to the left; or, the seaward side of a cresting wave.

· lauloa – A long wave that crests and breaks from one end of the beach to the other.

· lele wa‘a – Canoe leaping; leaping from a canoe with a surfboard in order to ride the wave.

· muku – The side of a wave near the crest; broken section of a wave; or, a wave to the left (see lala).

· nalu – A wave; surf; full of waves; to form waves.

· nala ha‘i lala – A wave that breaks diagonally.

· nalu puki – A wave that shoots high.

· nalu-nalu – Rough; of a sea with high waves; to form high waves.

· no ka pakaka ale – Gliding on the surf; probably refers mainly to canoe surfing.

· ohu – One of two kinds of surf ridden (the other is lauloa); a low, small wave that rises without breaking but with enough strength to carry a board; sometimes called opu’u.

· olo – The long heavy surfboard reserved for chiefs; made primarily from wili wili.

· omo – Another name for the alaia board.

· onaula-loa – A wave of great length and endurance.

· onini – A surfboard used by experts, difficult to manage; a thick board made of wili-wili; probably the same as olo.

· opu‘u – A large surf, a swell.

· owili – A thick board of wili-wili; probably an olo.

· pa-ha – A surfboard.

· papa he‘e nalu – A surfboard. Literally, a board for sliding waves. Ha’awi papa he’e nalu, to give with the understanding the board would be returned. Boards were loaned rather than given.

· pu‘ua – A surfboard.

Pervasive throughout all aspects of Hawaiian society and culture – including religion, language, festivals, love, competition, song and story – surfing was completely woven into the life fabric of the Hawaiian Islands. Men, women and children all rode the ocean waves on a variety of surfboards. That a surfboard industry existed and was related to Hawaiian religious practices there is no doubt. That surfers rode sometimes to gamble and win great prizes and sometimes to gamble and lose all is sung about in the ancient meles.125

With chants, contests, special terms, numerous places to ride waves, and literally thousands of hand-carved boards to ride upon, surfing was the Hawaiian sport of ali‘i and maka‘ainana alike. Wave sliding was a vital aspect in the lives of the people of this isolated island world when European voyagers landed in 1778 and changed everything.

Footnotes

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116  Finney and Houston, 1966, pp. 41-42 and the 1996 edition, p. 36.

117 Sands, Kawika.  “Wahine o Hawaii,” from the Hana Hou Series, ©1999.

118 Sands, Kawika.  “Wahine o Hawaii,” from the Hana Hou Series, ©1999.

119 Sands, Kawika.  “Wahine o Hawaii,” from the Hana Hou Series, ©1999.

120  Thrum, Thomas G. “Hawaiian Surf Riding,” Hawaiian Almanac and Annual for 1896, Honolulu, Hawaii, pp. 106-107. See also Finney and Houston, p. 42.

121  Finney and Houston, 1966, p. 42 and the 1996 edition, p. 38.

122 Waimau, J.  “Ka Holomana Kahiko,” Nupepa Kuokoa, December 23, 1865.  Quoted in Lueras, 1984, p. 38.

123  Finney and Houston, 1966, p. 42.

124  Finney and Houston, 1966, p. 41.

125  Finney and Houston, 1966, p. 56.

Traditional Hawaiian Life

Aloha and Welcome to this installment in the LEGENDARY SURFERS series on Traditional Hawaiian Life.

Early Twentieth Century surf great Tom Blake felt the article in the Hawaiian Annuals of 1896, translated by Nakuina, to be “the finest contribution on old surfriding in existence.”76

The “native from Kona,” whom Nakuina translated, not only described surfing during his time, but also told of competition and betting being integral to Hawaiian surf culture:

“Surfriding was one of the favorite sports, in which chiefs, men, women and youths took a lively interest. Much valuable time was spent by them in this practice throughout the day. Necessary work for the maintenance of the family, such as farming, fishing, mat and tapa making, and such other household duties required of them and needing attention, by either head of the family, was often neglected for the prosecution of the sport. Betting was made an accompaniment thereof, both by the chiefs and the common people, as was done in all other games, such as wrestling, foot-racing, holua, and several other games known only to the old Hawaiians. Canoes, nets, fishing lines, kapas, swine, poultry and all other property was staked, and in some instances, life itself was put as a wager. The property changing hands and personal liberty or even life itself sacrificed according to the outcome of the match, the winners carrying off their riches, and the losers and their families passing to a life of poverty or servitude.”77

The ali‘i took great pride in the skill, grace, speed, and courage involved in surfriding. They often performed in public, sometimes to court a visiting queen from another island, sometimes as part of a gathering of island chieftains. Most often, however, gambling was a part of a contest or competition. Indeed, gambling and competition were major elements in the pursuit of surfing. The fact that betting accompanied nearly every contest was no doubt an important incentive for the popularity of the sport.

“Before a surfing contest in which chiefs were competing, a dog might be buried in an underground oven and baked, so that the contestants could periodically replenish their strength during the match. If the contest was one of pride, the chiefs would gird themselves in tapa loincloths dyed red. When preliminaries were over and all the bets were in, the competing surfers paddled out to a predetermined position to wait for a swell to come through. As soon as a large wave rose up behind them they paddled, caught it together and rode until they reached a pua (buoy) anchored inshore. The first man to the buoy won the heat. Probably several such rides determined the winner of the contest.”78

The American Anthropologist of 1889 documents a variance to this kind of contest featuring surfriders starting from shore. “The riders sometimes also raced to the kulano, or starting place. Standing on the boards as they shot in was by no means uncommon. Men and women both took part in this delightful pastime, which is now almost a lost art... Racing in the surf is called hie-eie-nalu, ‘hie-eie’ meaning to race and ‘nalu’ meaning to surf. Two champions will swim out to sea on boards, and the first on arriving on shore wins.”79

There were other kinds of ocean competitions, also, involving canoes and sleds. Noted anthopologist Kenneth Emory documented that, “The wave sought in surfing by board or canoe was one that welled up high and smooth, and did not break quickly or all at once. That sort of a wave was called an ohu, or opuu, whereas the long wave breaking all at once was called Kakala.”80

One kind of match pitted a chief’s surfboard against another chief and his land-locked holua sled. At Keauhou, on the western side of the Big Island, one can still see the stone holua slide stretching several hundred yards down the mountain slope to the shore at He‘eia Bay. A grass house once sat at the bottom of the slide and beyond the house, out to sea, was the noted surfbreak of Keauhoua. When the largest wave of a swell’s set was spotted heading toward shore and the center of the surfing area, an assistant would wave a tapa flag from his position at the grass house. A young chief at the top of the slide would then run a few powerful steps, throw himself and his narrow sled belly-down on the slide, and plummet seaward. At the same time, out at sea, a surfer would catch the wave that had triggered the signal and race the sled to shore. The first to reach the grass hut was the winner.81

“Wagering on such matches,” noted Finney and Houston, “by contestants as well as spectators, was a favorite and often fanatic pastime that occasionally overshadowed the sport itself.”82

In Hawaiian Antiquities, published by the Bishop Museum in 1951, Nineteeth Century Hawaiian scholar David Malo agreed that, “Surf-riding was a national sport of the Hawaiians, on which they were very fond of betting, each man staking his property on the one thought to be most skillful... Hawaiians were much addicted to gambling, even to the last article they possessed.”83

This passion for gambling was unusual for Polynesians as a whole. In the other island groups, betting was either unknown or otherwise not practiced. Because of this, Kenneth Emory advanced the theory that Hawaiians actually got gambling from shipwrecked Japanese fishermen, prior to European contact. However it started, by the time the Europeans first started to observe life in the Hawaiian chain, gambling was an essential aspect connected to sports of all types. An excited native might impetuously wager canoes, fishing nets and lines, tapa cloth, swine, and sometimes his own life or personal freedom, all on the outcome of a match. The consequences were often dramatic. To the winners went the spoils. For the losers, it could mean death or a life of servitude for himself and his entire family.84 The dangers of such a contest are illustrated in the legendary match between Uni-a-liloa and Paiea.85

Mele and Hula

Having no written language, the Hawaiians developed the mele (poetry and music) and hula (dance) to convey the stories handed down from generation to generation. Meles always contain subtle, hidden meanings:  1) the ostensible meaning; 2) the sexual double meaning; 3) a mythological, historical or topographical meaning (usually religious) or; 4) a kauna, or deeply hidden meaning.

The mele is presented in either oli form or hula. The oli form is a recital method of chanting or intoning, unaccompanied by any musical instrument, with a limited tonal range which was practically monotone. Hula was a physical interpretation of the words of the song, augmented by ornamental gestures which expressed the different meanings a mele contained. According to legend, the first hula was danced by the goddess Hi‘iaka on the black sand beach at Puna on the southern coast of the Big Island. Hula later became the primary function of the goddess Laka. Although it – along with other Hawaiian traditions – suffered greatly in the 1800s, hula is alive and well, today, and is practiced by both women and men who graduate from a halau (school) under the teachings of a kumuhula (master).

Traditional Hawaiian musical instruments include: ipu hula (gourd drum); ka-laau (the gourd’s beating stick); ohe keeke (unstripped bamboo struck to make a clanking sound); pu-ili (section of bamboo split into long, slender teeth, struck against each other against the performer’s body, producing a rattle sound); pahu (hollowed coconut trunk with shark skin head); pu puhi (conch shell horn); pu-nui (drum with cords used in tying it to the knee of the beater); ohe hano ihu (nose flute); uliuli (rattle gourd made of coconut containing seeds or pebbles, trimmed with feathers and tapa, shaken by the hula dancer); and ili-ili (castanets made of smooth pebbles, clicked together by hand).

The following is the mele of Naihe, a man of strong character, but not a high chief. He was born in Kona and resided at Napoopoo. His mother was Ululani. His father was Keawe-a-heulu, who was a celebrated general and strategist under Kamehameha I:86

He Mele-Inoa (No Naihe)

A Name-Song, A Eulogy (for Naihe)

Ka nalu nui, a ku ka nalu mai Kona,

Ka malo a ka mahiehie87

Ka onaulu-loa,88 a lele ka‘u malo.

The huge roller, roller that surges from Kona,

Makes loin-cloth fit for a lord;

Far-reaching swell, my malo streams in the wind;

O kakai89 malo hoaka,90

O ka malo kai,91 malo o ke alii.

E ku, e hume a paa i ka malo.

Shape the crescent malo to the loins –

The loin-cloth the sea, cloth for king’s girding.

Stand, gird fast the loin-cloth!

E ka‘ikai92 ka la I ka papa o Halepo;93

A pae o Halepo i a nalu.

Ho-e‘e i ka nalu mai Kahiki;94

He nalu Wakea,95 nalu ho‘ohua.96

Haki opu‘u97 ka nalu, haki kua-pa.98

Let the sun guide the board Halep,

Till Halepo lifts on the swell.

It mounts the swell that rolls from Kahiki,

From Wakea’s age onrolling.

The roller plumes and ruffles its crest.

Ea mai ka makakai99 he‘e nalu,

Kai he‘e kakala100 o ka moku,

Kai-ka o ka nalu nui,

Ka hu‘a o ka nalu o Hiki-au.101

Kai he‘e-nalu i ke awakea.

Here comes the champion surfer,

While wave-ridden wave beats the island,

A fringe of mountain-high waves.

Spume lashes the Hiki-au altar –

A surf this to ride at noontide.

Ku ka puna, ke ko‘a I-uka.

Ka makaha o ka nalu o Kuhihewa.102

Ua o ia,103 noha ka papa!

Noha Maui, nauweuwe,

Nauweuwe, nakelekele.

The coral, horned coral, it sweeps far ashore.

We gaze at the surf of Ka-kuhi-hewa.

The surfboard snags, is shivered;

Maui splits with a crash,

Trembles, dissolves into slime.

Nakele ka ili o ka i he‘e-kai.

Laliali ole ka ili o ke akamai;

Kahilihili ke kai a ka he‘e-nalu.

Ike‘a ka nalu nui o Puna, o Hilo.

Glossy the skin of the surfer;

Undrenched the skin of the expert;

Wave-feathers fan the wave rider.

You’ve seen the grand surf of Puna, of Hilo.104

The Makahiki

The Hawaiian luau is named for the taro tops traditionally served at this feast. “The custom of the luau,” wrote Tom Blake, “is a happy note in old Hawaiian life. The luau, meaning feast, was an excuse for hospitality on a grand scale, music, dancing, eating, awa drinking, chanting, love making.”105 The grand Hawaiian luau amounted to the Makahiki, a four-month-long celebration.

Surfing was integral to the annual Makahiki. The ancient festival coincided with the rise of winter waves in the fall season. The Makahiki began when the Huihui – or Makali‘i – star group made its first evening appearance in the eastern sky. Greek astronomers called the Makali‘i the Pleiades – or “seven little sisters” – and this is how they are most commonly known in the Western World, today.106 In our time, the Pleiades show in Hawai‘i at the present time around the middle of November. In other latitudes and in other eras the date is different. Around the year 1000 A.D., the Pleiades would have risen at sundown in the Hawaiian Islands about November 5th; 2000 years ago, on October 20th.107

Lolo was the patron deity of the Makahiki festivities between mid-October and mid-January. During that time, Hawaiians stopped work, relaxed, and passed much of their time dancing, feasting and participating in sports. Religious ceremonies and a kapu on war was also part of this most special time of the year.108

Thousands gathered to watch tournaments; prominent of which were the surfing contests. A particular akua pa‘ani (special god of sport) usually presided over each contest. Kenneth Emory wrote, “No important contest was engaged in without approaching the gods with prayers and offerings to win their favor. Some god presided over every sport. When a man felt he was in harmonious relations with the mysterious forces about him he was quite likely to accomplish superhuman feats of strength and skill.”109

Interestingly and somewhat disappointingly for some, nowhere in the whole colorful collection of ancient Hawaiian gods is there mention of a special deity for surfing. In Tahiti, Ellis recorded the presiding god of surfing was Huaouri. His Hawaiian counterpart can only be assumed, but remains nameless and unknown.110

Heiau

The possibility of a surfing god is strengthened by the existence of more than one heiau for surfing on the big island of Hawai‘i. Heiau – ancient Hawaiian temples, shrines, or places of worship – were built sometimes in connection with a community, with an individual god, or a certain activity. Types of heiau known to us, today, include:

• hei-au ho‘ola – for treating the sick.

• hei-au ho‘o-ulu‘ai – for the increase of crops; where first fruits were offered.

• hei-au ho‘o-ulu i‘a – where fish were offered to insure good fishing.

• hei-au ho‘o-ulu ua – where offerings were made to insure rain.

• hei-au ka-lua ua – for stopping the rain

• hei-au ma‘o – small temporary heiau covered with tapa stained green, used for the ho‘oulu ‘ai ceremony to bring food.111

• hei-au po‘o kanaka – where human sacrifices were made.

• hei-au wai-kaua – for services to bring success in war.112

John Francis Gray Stokes (1876-1960), in his archaeological study Ancient Worship of the Hawaiian Islanders, identified the seaside heiau at Kahalu‘u Bay on the Kona coast as a spot where locals made offerings and prayed to their gods for good surfing conditions.113 The Ku‘emanu Heiau is a large structure built of lichen-spotted black lava rock. Stokes recorded locals as describing this as, “a heiau for surf-riders, where they could pray for good sport.” The compound contains a stone pool convenient for rinsing water from bodies after surfing. Stone terraces are a dominant feature of the temple and these are so aligned that from the upper level, spectators could easily watch surfers riding waves less than a hundred yards away. Good sized surf still breaks offshore at Ku‘emanu, directly in front of the heiau.114

The Ku‘emanu religious site is very similar to another heiau fronting the sea at Holualoa, a few miles north of Kahalu‘u. This site is known as Keolonahihi Heiau. A pool and bleacher-like terrace are features there, too, and it also faces a once-well-known surfing area. Both places, in fact, were noted in earlier times for the good surf close-by. At Keolonahihi, King Kamehameha first learned to surf. Local chiefs favored the surrounding lands because of abundant food and good surf the area produced. Ke-olo-na-hihi as a name is significant in itself, since it means “the olo of Hihi.115

Most of the Hawaiian heiau are overgrown and obscured by tropical vegetation, much as the ancient surf culture of Hawai‘i and Polynesia is hidden from us, today. Some heiau are easy to see, like the one at Kapa‘a, on Kaua‘i. Others require solid determination by the average seeker to find and identify.

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Footnotes

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76  Blake, 1935, p. 44. Blake misspelled Nakuina as “Nakoina.”

77  Blake, 1935, pp. 44-45.

78  Finney and Houston, 1966, p. 51.

79  Anthropologist, 1889, quoted in Blake, p. 48. He‘e-nalu is misspelled.

80 Emory, Kenneth P. “Sports, Games, and Amusements,” Ancient Hawaiian Civilization, Chapter 14, the Kamehameha Schools, Honolulu, Hawai’i, 1933, p. 149.

81  Finney and Houston, 1966, pp. 51-52.

82  Finney and Houston, 1966, pp. 51-52.

83 Malo, David. Hawaiian Antiquities, BP, Bishop Museum, Special Publication 2, 2nd Edition (translated by Nathaniel Emerson, 1898; First published 1903), Honolulu, Hawai‘i.  See also Finney and Houston, p. 52.

84  Finney and Houston, 1966, p. 52.

85  See Gault-Williams, “Ancient Polynesian Surf Legends.”

86 Emerson, Nathaniel B. Unwritten Literature of Hawaii, The Sacred Songs of the Hula, ©1965. Originally published by the Bureau of American Ethnology in 1909, pp. 35-37.

87 Mahiehie – A term conferring dignity and distinction.

88 Onulu-loa – A rolling wave of great length and endurance, one that reaches the shore, in contrast to kakala.

89 Kakai – forty.

90 Hoaka – A crescent; the name of the second day of the month. The allusion is to the downward curve of a large number (kakai) of malo when hung on a line, the usual way of keeping such articles.

91 Malo kai – The ocean is sometimes poetically termed the malo or pa-u of the naked swimmer or surfer. It covers his nakedness.

92 Ka‘ika‘i – To lead or to carry. The sun is described as leading the board.

93 Halepo – Emmerson believed this to be the name of Nahie’s surfboard. A surfer he knew said it is the name given to the surf at Napoopoo, in Kona.

94 Kahiki – Tahiti or any foreign country.

95 Wakea – Legendary leader of the Polynesian migration. See Chapter 4: “Ancient Hawaiian Surfers.”

96 Ho‘ohua – Applied to a rolling wave, one that rolls on and rises in height.

97 Opu‘u – Said of a wave that completes its run to shore.

98 Kua-pa – Said of a wave that dies at the shore.

99 Maka-kai – The springing-up of the surf after a period of inactivity.

100 Kakala – Rough, heaped-up, one wave over-riding the other; choppy sea.

101 Hiki-au – Name of a Heiau.

102 Kuhihewa – Short for Ka-kuhi-hewa, a distinguished king of O‘ahu.

103 O ia – Surfboard pearled; the board dug its nose towards the reef or into the sand.

104 Emerson, Nathaniel B. Unwritten Literature of Hawaii, The Sacred Songs of the Hula, ©1965. Originally published by the Bureau of American Ethnology in 1909, pp. 35-37. Not an exact rendition of Emerson’s translation. I’ve made some of the terms more contemporary. Note: last nine verses omitted as they do not apply to surfing.

105  Blake, 1935, p. 31.

106  See Pukui and Elbert, 1986.

107 Bryan, E.H.  “Astronomy and the Calendar,” chapter 23 of Ancient Hawaiian Civilizations, A Series of Lectures Delivered at The Kamehameha Schools, Honolulu, C.E. Tuttle Company, Inc., ©1965.  Ninth Printing, 1981, pp. 252-253.

108  See Pukui and Elbert, 1986.

109  Emory, 1933.  Quoted in Finney and Houston, 1966, p. 54 and the 1996 edition, p. 48.

110  Finney and Houston, 1966, p. 54 and in the 1996 edition, p. 48.

111  Malo, p. 158.

112  Pukui and Elbert, 1986.

113 Stokes, John Francis Gray. “Heiaus of Hawaii,” Ancient Worship of the Hawaii Islanders, compiled by William T. Brigham, first director of the Bishop Museum. Published in 1919, ©1991 by the Bishop Museum, Honolulu, pp. 67-70.  Quoted in Lueras, 1984, p. 33.

114  Finney and Houston, 1966, p. 55 and the 1996 edition, p. 49.  See also Lueras, 1984, p. 33.

115  Finney and Houston, 1966, p. 55 and the 1996 edition, p. 49.