Hawai'iloa

Aloha and Welcome to this chapter segment in the LEGENDARY SURFERS series on the legendary Polynesian Hawai’iloa.

The modern day voyaging canoe Hawai'iloa

Courtesy of the Polynesian Voyaging Society

Thanks to a large number of Polynesian and Hawaiian oral histories, we know about a number of surfers in the long ago. Many of the most notable legends of Polynesian and Hawaiian watermen from before the time of the written word – from the time of the mele1  – were known surfers, while others – like Hawi‘iloa – can only be guessed as such.

According to Hawaiian legends recorded by Abraham Fornander and Thomas George Thrum, Hawaiʻiloa was a great chief, expert fisherman and navigator who was famous for his lengthy voyages..

While on one such, his principal navigator, Makaliʻi, asked Hawaiʻiloa to steer eastward towards Aldebaran (Hokuʻula, meaning "red star") and the Pleiades (near the Cluster of Makaliʻi). After sailing in this direction, he and his crew stumbled upon the island of Hawaiʻi, which was named in Hawaiʻiloa's honor. Hawaiʻiloa returned to his homeland, Ka ʻāina kai melemele a Kāne ("the land of the yellow sea of Kāne"), to bring his family back with him to Hawaiʻi. He then organized a colonizing expedition with his family and eight other skilled navigators. They settled on what is now the Island of Hawaiʻi, named in his honor.

The legend contains reference to his children: Māui (his eldest son), Kauaʻi (son), and Oʻahu (daughter) who settled on the islands that bear their names.

Although the Hawaiʻiloa legend is a realistic Hawaiian origin story that is consistent with modern anthropological and historical findings, and DNA research, its historical accuracy should be treated more for what it is than an actual historical reconstruction. Hawai’iloa’s exploits come to us as a product of many centuries of story telling from one generation to another.

According to 19th Century Hawaiian folklorist Abraham Fornander, “the earliest reminiscences of the Hawaiian branch of the Polynesian family refer to a far western habitat on some very large island or islands, or perhaps continent, as the birthplace of their ancestors. This land was known under many names, but the most frequently occurring is ‘Kapa-kapa-ua-a-Kane.’ It is also called ‘Hawaii-kua-uli-kai-oo’ (Hawaii with the green back, banks or upland, and the dotted sea).”2

This ancestral home was said to be “situated in Kahiki-ku, or the large continent to the east of Kalana-i-Hau-ola, or the place where the first of mankind were created.”3

Seventeen generations4 after the same Flood (ke kai-a-Kahinalii) upon which the Biblical story of Noah is based – an event in the histories of many different people on the planet – on the east coast of Kapakapaua-a-Kane, in an area called Ka ‘Aina kai melemele a Kane (“Land of the yellow sea of Kane”)5 there lived “a chief of high renown and purest descent.”6 Chief Hawai‘iloa (“the great burning Hawa” or sometimes “the straits of the great burning Hawa”),7 also called Ke Kowa i Hawai‘i,8 was a noted fisherman and a great navigator.9 We can only assume that he was also a surfer and that many of the legends attributed to him are collected legends of the exploits of several men.

In Hawaiian folklore, Hawai‘iloa is a traceable descendant of the first man Kumu Honua and his wife Lalo Honua, who lived in the land called Kalana i Hauola. This line went all the way down to Aniani Ka Lani, Hawai‘iloa’s father, and Ka Mee Nui Hikina, his mother.10 Hawai‘iloa’s other three siblings were Ki, who settled in Tahiti, Kana Loa, who settled in Nukuhiwa, and Laa-Kapu.11

Hawai‘iloa and his brothers were born on the east coast of Ka ‘Aina kai melemele a Kane (the land of the yellow or handsome sea of Kane).12 Hawai‘iloa was not only a distinguished man of his community, but also a noted fisherman famous for his fishing trips which could take as long as a month-to-a-year to complete. During this time, he roamed about the ocean on “fishing excursions” in his voyaging canoe (wa‘a) called also an “island” (moku) with his crew and navigators (poe ho‘okele and kilo-hoku).13

Hawaiian Chain Discovered

On one of Hawai‘iloa’s longer voyages, his principal navigator Makali‘i said, “Let’s steer the canoe in the direction of Iao, the Eastern Star, the discoverer of Land [Hoku hikina kiu o na ‘aina]. There is land to the eastward, and here is a red star, hoku‘ula (Aldebaran), to guide us, and the land is there in the direction of those big stars which resemble a bird.”14

So, they took to the direction of Iao (Jupiter, “the eastern star”),15 the red star (the rising Aldebaran in the constellation of Taurus)16 and the Pleiades.17 The red star, situated in the lap of the goats (a constellation) was henceforth called Makali‘i after Hawai‘iloa’s navigator. Some other red stars in the circle of the Pleiades were called the Huhui-a-Makali‘i (“Cluster of Makali`i).18

By taking this route, Hawai‘iloa and crew discovered a group of islands far from their western homeland.19 These islands have been generally considered to be the Hawaiian chain, though this is not certain. If it was Hawai‘i, then archeological evidence suggests a direct link between Hawai‘i and Hiva – the Marquesas Islands.20 In Fornander’s translations, not all the islands in the Hawaiian chain had been formed by this time. “When Hawai‘i Loa arrived here, there were only the two islands of Hawai‘i-Loa [Hawai‘i] and Maui-au-Ali‘i [Maui],” wrote Fornander, “but during his time and close afterwards the volcanoes on Hawai‘i and on Maui began their eruptions; and earthquakes and convulsions produced or brought to light the other islands.”21

The Hawaiian scholar Kepelino has all the islands in place upon Hawai‘iloa’s first landing on the western end of the archipelago. “First he saw the island of Kaua‘i, but he kept on sailing and found O‘ahu and then the islands of the Maui group, then, seeing the mountains of Hawai‘i, he kept on until he reached that island. There he lived and named the island after himself. The other islands from Maui to Kaua‘i were named for his children and probably for some who sailed with him.”22 Of Hawai1iloa’s children, Maui was the eldest, O‘ahu the next younger, and Kaua‘i the youngest. These names he gave to the three large islands, but it is probably that the smaller islands were named for others who accompanied him on the discovering voyage.23

The voyagers “went ashore and found the land fertile and pleasant,” wrote Fornander, “filled with ‘awa, coconut trees... and Hawai‘iloa, the chief, gave that land his name. Here they dwelt a long time and when their canoe was filled with vegetable food and fish, they returned to their native country with the intention of returning to Hawai‘i-nei, which they preferred to their own country.”24

Hawai‘iloa and crew returned to their homeland. There, they were delayed a long while in their own country and amongst their own relatives,25 before returning to the newfound land. The time spent in Hiva was possibly due to their efforts to build enthusiasm and interest in the new land.

Second Trip to Hawaii and First Settlement

Finally, Hawai‘iloa and a new crew again set sail for the islands he had named. This time, Hawai‘iloa brought his wife and children and an unusually large amount of men-steersmen, navigators, ship builders and others. According to Kepelino, the second time Hawai‘i-nui sailed to Hawai‘i, he did so with only eight steersmen. Because of their skill in observing stars, each one was renamed after his favorite star. They were:  Makali‘i, the famous steersman and great farmer; Iao; Kahiki-Nui; Hoku ‘Ula (named, possibly after the star Aldebaran); Maiao; Kiopa‘a (“fixed,” a name for Polaris, the north star; also called Hokupa‘a); Unulau; Polohilani (possibly the star Schedir in Cassiopeia).26

Supposedly, Hawai‘iloa was the only man who had his wife and children along with him, but this is highly unlikely. On this voyage, the ka Hoku Loa, the Morning Star, was the special star they steered by.27

In the various Hawai‘iloa legends, the ocean Hawai‘iloa and his fellow voyagers traversed is called by different names. These include: Ka Moana-kai-Maokioki-a-Kane (the spotted, many-colored ocean),28 Kai Holo-o-ka-i‘a (the Ocean where the fish run),29 and Moana-kai-Popolo (the blue or dark-green ocean). After traversing the long distance, Hawai‘iloa and his entourage arrived finally at the islands Hawai‘iloa had previously named after himself and his son or children.30 Again, the various legends differ. Some have it that these events occurred early enough to the point where there were only two islands in the Hawaiian chain; others have all islands in place. The multiple-islands legend has Hawai‘iloa naming not only the big island for himself and Maui after his first-born son, but also O‘ahu after his daughter (and O‘ahu-a-Lua [Honolulu] after her foster parent Lua), and Kaua‘i after his younger son.31

Hawai‘i, Sawai‘i, Tonga?

If the island group where Hawi‘iloa and clan settled was not the Hawaiian chain, it was no doubt somewhere within the confines of what we know as Polynesia.32 Added both to the uncertainty of where exactly Kapa-kapa-ua-a-Kane or Hawaii-kua-uli-kai-oo was located, is the uncertainty of where exactly Hawai‘iloa settled. Three Polynesian groups the Hawaiian, Samoan and Tongan have an island by the same name, with slight dialectical difference. Each claim the honor of having been first peopled and first named by people from the west.33

The Hawai‘iloa legend itself is just part of the epic Hawaiian legend of Kumuhonua (the first man) and indicates, according to the earliest traditionally handed down recollections of the Hawaiian people, that Hawai‘i was first peopled by emigrants from a land far to the west of it. Fornander admitted, “whether the Hawaii to which the legend refers be the Hawaii of the North Pacific, the Sawaii of the Samoan group, or the Jawa of the Asiatic Archipel, they did not come there from the east, north, or south, but from lands and seas in the far distant west.” Furthermore, “The Hawaiians considered themselves as emigrants, not as autochthones, of the Hawaii of which the legend speaks.”34

The Hawa or Hawai‘i that most Polynesians refer to as being the birthplace of their ancestors, Fornander mused, must have been well to the west of Polynesia.35 This may be the case of the original inhabitants that arrived with Hawai‘iloa, but archaeological evidence suggests the major cultural link to be Hiva (the Marquesas Islands),36 over 1600 years ago. “The argument for a Marquesan origin of some of the early settlers,” wrote Dennis Kawaharada of the Polynesian Voyaging Society, “is based in part on linguistic and biological evidence.”37 Archaeologist Patrick Kirch wrote, “Indeed, the close relationship between the Hawaiian and Marquesan languages as well as between the physical populations constitutes strong and mutually corroborative evidence that the early Hawaiians came from the Marquesas.”38

“Adzes, fishhooks, and pendants,” continued Kawaharada, “found at an early settlement site at Ka Lae on the Big Island of Hawai‘i resemble those found in the Marquesas. Also, the Marquesas Islands are the best departure point for sailing to Hawai‘i from the South Pacific because they are closer and farther east (upwind) than the Society Islands or the Cook Islands, two other possible sources of early migrants.”39

Later Voyages of Hawai‘iloa

       

Hawai‘iloa, according to legend, made several voyages afterwards between Kapa-kapa-ua [Hiva?] and Hawai‘i to find his brothers and see if they had any children who might become husbands or wives to members of his party back on Hawai‘i.40

Hawai‘iloa made these voyages to “the extreme south (i ka mole o ka honua). Leaving from Lae o Kalae, in Ka‘u, and following the stars of Ke Ali‘i-o-Kona-i-ka-Lewa (Canopus) and the stars of Hoku-kea o ka Mole Honua (the Southern Cross, also known as the ‘Star-cross of the bottom of the earth’)”. Utilizing these guides, Hawai‘iloa and crew made it to Tahiti and other islands to the south. On Tahiti, he found his brother Ki, who had settled there and called the island after one of his own names. Together, the brothers sailed southward (i ka mole o ka honua) and found some uninhabited islands. When they finally returned to Hawai‘i, they had with them Ki’s first born son Tu-nui-ai-a-te-Atua as a husband for Hawai‘iloa’s daughter O‘ahu.41

Hawai‘iloa, Ki and party returned to Lae o Kalae, steering by the Hoku-‘iwa stars and the Hoku Poho ka ‘Aina.42

Tui-nui-ai-a-te-Atua and O‘ahu had a child named Kunuiakea, who was born at Keauhou, in Puna, Hawai‘i. Puna was a fertile land and was named after Tui-nui-ai-a-te-Atua’s (Kunuiaiakeakua) own birthplace, Puna-Auia, in Tahiti. Kunuiakea became a chief of the highest rank (kapu loa) and from him sprang all the race of chiefs in Hawai‘i (welo ali‘i). From the great navigator Makali‘i sprang the common people (welo kanaka). The priests (welo kahuna) were “one and the same with the race of the chiefs from the beginning.”43

Other later voyages of Hawai‘iloa included a trip to Sawai‘i (Somoa), where he placed some of his offspring. They, in turn, became the ancestors of Sawai‘i, thereafter called Hawai‘i-ku-lalo (Hawai‘i rising downwind).44

Hawai‘iloa afterwards revisited Tahiti where he found his brother Ki had returned and forsaken the religion they were born into together; the religion of Kane, Ku and Lono. Instead, Ki now worshipped Ku-waha-ilo [maggot-mouthed Ku], the man-eating god (ke akua ‘ai kanaka). Hawai‘iloa soon left Tahiti after quarreling with his brother on this issue.45

Hawai‘iloa revisited Tahiti a third time and Hawai‘i-ku-lalo (Sawai‘i) a second time, holding a meeting with those people at Tarawao. Finding that these people still persisted in following after the god Ku-waha-ilo, who required human sacrifices, and that they had now become used to man-eating, he renounced them, passing a law called “he Papa Enaena,” forbidding anyone from Hawai‘i-Luna (upwind Hawai‘i) from ever going to the southern islands for fear they would go astray, be converted to this new religion, and become cannibals.46

Fornander has Hawai‘iloa also visiting some western land that was neither Kapa-kapa-ua or i ka mole o ka honua. Travelling westward, he used Mulehu (Hoku Loa) as his guiding star. He found a land where there lived “people with turned-up eyes” (Lahui maka-lilio) – Asians. Travelling across this land to the northward and west, he came to the country called Kua-hewa-hewa, part of a very large land expanse. Returning from this country, he brought back with him two white men (poe keokeo kane). On his return voyage he used the star Iao to help guide the way. After landing, Hawai‘iloa had the two white men marry Hawaiian women (a ho‘omoe i ko‘onei po‘e wahine).47

Hawai‘iloa made one last journey back to the southern and eastern shore of Kapakapaua-a-Kane and took with him his grandchild Kunuiakea in order to teach him navigation and long distance voyaging. When they returned, Kunuiakea brought with him two stewards (he mau ha‘a elua), one called Lehua and the other Nihoa. They settled on the two Hawaiian Islands which bear their names. As konohiki (land stewards), they were put under the charge of Kaua‘i, Hawai‘iloa’s youngest son.48

Hawai‘iloa, Ki & Kanaloa Descendents

According to many of the legends, the descendants of the brothers Hawai‘iloa and Ki peopled nearly all the Polynesian islands. From Ki came the people of Tahiti, Borabora, Huahine, Taha‘a, Ra‘iatea and Mo‘orea.49

Hawai‘iloa’s lesser mentioned brother Kanaloa peopled Nukuhiwa, Uapou, Tahuata, Hiwaoa, and other islands of the Hiva group (Marquesas). On Nukuhiwa, Kanaloa married a woman from the man-eating people, from who sprang the cannibals who live on Nukuhiwa, Fiji, Tarapara, Paumotu (Tuamotus) and lesser islands in western Polynesia. Despite what some of the legends may indicate, the people of Hawai‘i and Tahiti never fully converted to cannibalism.50

The Hawaiian scholar Kepelino concluded, “Hawai‘i-nui was perhaps a chief or perhaps not; he was a man of high standing (ke kanaka ko‘iko‘i), as I see it.”51 Fornander noted, “In the first age, from Hawai‘i Loa to Wakea, the royal authority and prerogative were not very well defined. The chiefs were regarded more in the light of parents and patrons (haku), than as moi and ali`i-kapu, although they enjoyed all the honor and precedence due to their rank. This state of things was considerably altered by Wakea, his priest and successors, yet even so late as the time of Kanipahu, who refused the government, it is evident that the royal authority was not well settled in the olden times (‘aole he ano nui o na ‘li‘i ka wa kahiko loa ‘ku).”52

The Legend Examined

Scholars have questioned the authenticity of the Hawai‘iloa legend because of similarities between biblical stories and stories in the tradition of Kumuhonua. “The legend seems to be a summary of statements contained in many other legends and genealogies,” observed historian Bruce Cartwright. “At the time it was recorded in writing, many Hawaiians had become Christianized and were familiar with Biblical history. The temptation to interpret certain incidents similar to those in Biblical history as being in fact the Hawaiiian rendering of Biblical events seems to have influenced the translators. This unfortunate condition has more or less discredited the ancient legends on which the legend of Hawaii-loa is based, branding them, in the opinion of many modern students as ‘doctored accounts, influenced by Christianity.’”53

Both Kamakau and Kepelino, early Hawaiian writers on the tradition of Hawai‘iloa, were Christian converts. The similarities between the biblical stories and the legend of Hawai‘iloa include the Hawaiian god formed by the trinity of gods Kane, Ku and Lono; the creation of the first man (Kumuhonua) out of clay and the first woman (Lalo Honua) out of the rib of the first man. Kanaloa, angry that he was denied ‘awa, rebelled against god and later seduced the first woman. Afterwards, the first man and woman broke the law of Kane and fell from grace. The Hawaiian Noah is called Nu‘u, who survived the great flood in a large vessel with a house on it.54

Randie Kamuela Fong, representing the traditionalist response, wrote, “after careful review of Fornander’s version of the Kumuhonua tradition, the Hawai‘iloa portion bears no resemblance to any biblical account. The names, places, and basic settings and plots give us no reason to question their age and authenticity. Further, Patience Bacon of the Bishop Museum remembers kupuna (elders) being interviewed” in the 1920’s and 30’s “by Tutu Puku‘i. The kupuna spoke of Hawai‘i Loa as their ‘reality.’”55

Probably closest to the mark are Abraham Fornander‘s impressions. “I am inclined to think,” wrote Fornander, “that the legend of Hawii-loa represents the adventures and achievements of several persons... which, as ages elapsed, and the individuality of the actor retreated in the background, while the echo of his deeds was caught up by successive generations, were finally ascribed to some central figure who thus became the traditional hero not only of his own time, but also of times anterior as well as posterior to his actual existence... In much later times the same process was repeated, when the Hawaiian group was overrun by princely adventurers from the South Polynesian groups, who incorporated their own legends and their own versions of common legends on the Hawaiian folklore, and interpolated their own heroes on the Hawaiian genealogies.”56

The Hawai‘i Loa Story by Fornander

The following is the Hawai‘i Loa story from Fornander, Vol. VI, 278-281. Another version entitled “Hawaii-nui,” in Hawaiian and English, appears in Kepelino’s Traditions of Hawaii (Honolulu: Bishop Museum, 1932, 74-77):

Hawai‘i Loa, or Ke Kowa i Hawai‘i, was one of the four children of Aniani Ka Lani. The other three were Ki, who settled in Tahiti, Kana Loa, who settled the Marquesas, and Laa-Kapu. The ocean was called Kai Holo-o-ka-i‘a (Ocean where the fish run). Only two islands existed and both were discovered and settled by Hawai‘i Loa. The first he named Hawai‘i after himself; the second Maui, after his eldest son. (The other islands were created by volcanoes during and after the time of Hawai‘i Loa.57

Hawai‘i Loa and his brothers were born on the east coast of a land called Ka ‘Aina kai melemele a Kane (the land of the yellow or handsome sea of Kane).58 Hawai’i Loa was a distinguished man and noted for his fishing excursions which would occupy months, sometimes the whole year, during which time he would roam about the ocean in his big canoe (wa‘a), called also an “island” (moku), with his crew and his officers and navigators (poe h‘okele and kilo-hoku).

One time when they had been at sea for a long time, Makali‘i, the principal navigator said to Hawai‘i Loa, “Let’s steer the canoe in the direction of Iao, the Eastern Star, the discoverer of land [Hoku hikina kiu o na ‘aina]. There is land to the eastward, and here is a red star, hoku ‘ula (Aldebaran), to guide us, and the land is there in the direction of those big stars which resemble a bird.” And the red star, situated in the lap of the goats [a constellation], was called Makali‘i after the navigator. Some other red stars in the circle of the Pleiades were called the Huhui-a-Makali‘i (“Cluster of Makali‘i”).

So they steered straight onward and arrived at the easternmost island of the Hawaiian chain.59 They went ashore and found the land fertile and pleasant, filled with ‘awa, coconut trees, and so on, and Hawai‘i Loa, the chief, gave that land his name. Here they dwelt a long time and when their canoe was filled with vegetable food and fish, they returned to their native country with the intention of returning to Hawai‘i-nei, which they preferred to their own country. They had left their wives and children at home; therefore, they returned to get them. When Hawai‘i Loa and his men arrived at their own country and among their relatives, they were detained a long time before they set out again for Hawai‘i.

At last Hawai‘i Loa sailed again, accompanied by his wife and his children. He settled in Hawai‘i and gave up all thought of ever returning to his native land. He was accompanied on this voyage by a great crowd of steersmen, navigators, shipbuilders, and others.60 Hawai‘i Loa was chief of all these men. He alone brought his wife and children; all the others came singly, without women, so he was the progenitor of this nation. On their voyage here, the Morning Star (ka Hoku Loa) was the special star they steered by. And Hawai‘i Loa called the islands after the names of his children and the stars after his navigators and steersmen. The island of Maui was called after Hawai‘i Loa’s first born son. The island of O‘ahu was called after Hawai‘i Loa’s daughter, and her foster parent was Lua, and hence the name O’ahu-a-Lua. Kaua‘i was called after Hawai‘i Loa’s younger son; his wife’s name was Waialeale, and they lived on Kaua‘i, and the mountain was called after her because there she was buried. And thus other islands and districts were called after the first settlers.61

After Hawai‘i Loa had been some time in Hawai‘i-nei, he made another voyage to find his brothers to see if they had any children who might become husbands or wives to his own. They left from Lae o Kalae, in Ka‘u, and followed the stars Ke Ali‘i-o-Kona-i-k a-Lewa [Canopus] and the stars of Hoku-kea o ka Mole Honua [“Star-cross of the bottom of the earth,” or Southern Cross] to Tahiti and other islands to the south. On Tahiti, he found his brother Ki who had settled there and called the island after one of his own names. They sailed together southward (i ka mole o ka honua), and found an uninhabited island, which Hawai‘i Loa gave his name, and another smaller island, which he named for his daughter O‘ahu.

When they had finished their business there, they returned to Hawai‘i, to Lae o Kalae, steering by the Hoku-‘iwa stars and the Hoku Poho ka ‘Aina. On this return voyage, Hawai‘i Loa brought Tu-nui-ai-a-te-Atua, the first born son of his brother Ki, who became the husband of Hawai‘i Loa’s favorite daughter O‘ahu. The couple had a child called Kunuiakea, who was born at Keauhou in Puna, Hawai‘i. Puna was a fertile and fine land and it was called Puna by Kunuiaiakeakua [Tu-nui-ai-a-te-Atua] after his own birthplace, Puna-Auia, in Tahiti.

Kunuiakea, on both father’s and mother’s side, became a chief of the very highest rank (kapu loa). From him sprang the race of chiefs of Hawai‘i (welo ali‘i) and from Makali‘i sprang the race of common people (welo kanaka). The first has been kept separate from the most ancient times, and the second has been kept separate from the time of chaos (mai ka Po mai). But the priestly race (welo kahuna) was one and the same with the race of chiefs from the beginning.62

Kunuiakea’s son Ke Lii Alia, and his grandson Kemilia, were born at Tahiti along with the Aoa, the royal tree; but his great grandson, Ke Lii Ku (Eleeleualani), was born on Hawai‘i.

Eleeleualani was the grandfather of Papa-Nui-Hanau-Moku (w). His wife was called Ka Oupe Ali‘i and was a daughter of Kupukupunuu from Ololoimehani (supposed to be either a name for the island of Nu‘uhiwa, or of a place on that island). They had a son called Kukalani‘ehu, whose wife was Ka Haka-ua-Koko, the sixth descendant from Makali‘i, and they two were the parents of Papa-Nui (w).

Papa-Nui-Hanau-Moku (w) first married Wakea, who was the son of Kahiko (k) and Tupu-rana-i-te-hau (w), who was a Tahitian woman. Papa’s first child with Wakea was a daughter called Hoohokukalani.

Papa, having quarreled with Wakea on account of their daughter [i.e., Wakea slept with their daughter], went to Tahiti and there she took to Te Rii Fanau for husband and had a son called Te Rii i te Haupoipoi. She afterwards returned to Hawai‘i under the name of Huhune and had a son with Waia and called him Hinanalo. Domestic troubles now made her crazy and she returned to Tahiti where she had another son with Te Ari‘i Aumai, who was said to be the fourth generation of the Tahiti chiefs, and she called his name Te Ari‘i Taria, and he became chief over that part of Tahiti called Taharu‘u.

Because she was the mother of chiefs, both here and in Tahiti, she is called Papa Nui Hanau Moku [“Great Papa, the Mother of Islands”]. She is said to have been a comely, handsome woman, very fair and almost white.63

Papa is said to have traveled eight times between Tahiti and Hawai‘i, and died in a place called Waieri, in Tahiti, during the time of Nanakelihi, the fifth descendant from her and Wakea.

Wakea was a wicked and bad man. He instituted the bad and oppressive kapu, such as that men and women could not eat together; that women could not eat red fish, hogs, fowl or other birds, and some kinds of bananas. These kapu were put on to spite and worry Papa, on account of her growling at and reproaching him for his wickedness. Wakea also departed from the ancient worship and introduced idol worship, and many people followed him, because they were afraid of him.

Hawai‘i Loa was born on the eastern shore of the land of Kapakapaua-a-Kane. One of Hawai‘i Loa’s grandchildren was called Keaka-i-Lalo (w) whom he married to Te Ari‘i Aria, one of his brother Ki’s grandchildren, and he placed them at Sawai‘i [Samoa?], where they became the ancestors of that people, Sawai‘i being then called Hawai‘i-ku-lalo [Hawai’i rising downwind].

Afterwards Hawai‘i Loa revisited Tahiti and found that his brother Ki had forsaken the religion in which they were brought up, that of Kane, Ku and Lono, and adopted Ku-waha-ilo [maggot-mouthed Ku], the man-eating God (ke akua ‘ai kanaka), as his God. After quarreling with his brother on this account, Hawai‘i Loa left Tahiti and brought with him Te Ari‘i Apa as a husband for Eleeleualani, his mo‘opuna (grandchild) From these two was born Kohala (w), a girl, from whom the Kohala people sprang.

Afterwards Hawai‘i Loa went again to Tahiti and Hawai‘i-ku-lalo (Sawai‘i) and held a meeting with those peoples at Tarawao, but finding that they persisted in following after the God Ku-waha-ilo and that they had become addicted to man-eating, he reproved and repudiated them, and passed a law called “he Papa Enaena,” forbidding anyone from Hawai‘i-Luna (upwind Hawai‘i) from ever going to the southern islands, lest they should go astray in their religion and become man-eaters.

When Hawai‘i Loa returned from this trip he brought with him Te Ari‘i Tino Rua (w) to be a wife to Kunuiakea, and they begat Ke Ali‘i Maewa Lani, a son, who was born at Holio in North Kona, Hawai‘i, and became the Kona progenitor.

After this Hawai‘i Loa made a voyage to the westward, and Mulehu (Hoku Loa) was his guiding star. He landed on the eastern shore of the land of the Lahui-makalilio (the people with the turned up, oblique eyes, i.e., Asians). He traveled over it to the northward and to the westward to the land of Kuahewahewa-a-Kane, one of the continents that God created, and thence he returned, by the way he had come, to Hawai’i nei, bringing with him some white men (po‘e keokeo kane) and married them to native women (a ho‘omoe i k‘onei po‘e wahine). On this return voyage the star Iao was his guiding star to Hawai‘i.

After this Hawai‘i Loa made another voyage to the southern and eastern shore of Kapakapaua-a-Kane and took with him his grandchild Kunuiakea in order to teach him navigation, etc. When they had stayed there long enough they returned and Kunuiakea brought with him “he mau ha‘a elua” (two stewards), one called Lehua and the other Nihoa, and they were settled on the two islands which bear their names, as konohiki (land stewards) and put under the charge of Kaua‘i, the youngest son of Hawai‘i Loa.

When Hawai‘i Loa returned from the conference with his brother Ki and his descendants, his wife Hualalai bore him a son who was called Hamakua, and who probably was a bad boy (keiki ‘ino‘ino), for so his name would indicate. Ten years later, Hualalai died and was buried on the mountain of Hawai‘i that has been called after her name ever since.

After Hawai‘i Loa was dead and gone, in the time of Kunuiakea, came Tahitinui from Tahiti and landed at Ka-lae-i-Kahiki (the southwest point of Kaho‘olawe, a cape often made by people coming from or going to Tahiti.) Tahiti-nui was a mo‘opuna of Ki, Hawai‘i Loa’s brother, and he settled on East Maui and died there.

The descendants of Hawai‘i Loa and also of Ki (which are one, for they were brothers) peopled nearly all the Polynesian islands. From Ki came the people of Tahiti, Borabora, Huahine, Taha‘a, Ra‘iatea and Mo‘orea [the Society Islands].

From Kanaloa [brother of Hawai‘i Loa] were peopled Nukuhiwa, Uapou, Tahuata, Hiwaoa and those other islands [the Marquesas Islands]. Kanaloa married a woman from the man-eating people, Taeohae [Taiohae, on Nukuhiwa], from whom spring those cannibals who live on Nukuhiwa, Fiji, Tarapara, Paumotu [the Tuamotus], and the islands in western Polynesia – so is it reported in the Hawaiian legends and prayers – but the people of Hawai‘i and the Tahiti (properly speaking) did never addict themselves to cannibalism.64

Footnotes     

       

1  Mele –  Song, anthem, or chant of any kind; poem. See Pukui and Elbert, 1986.

2  Fornander, Abraham. An Account of the Polynesian Race: Its Origin and Migrations, Volume 1-3, Trubner, London, 1878, 1880 and 1885. Reprinted by Tuttle, Vermont, 1969.  Volume 1, pp. 22-23.

3  Fornander, 1878, Volume 1, p. 23.

4  Fornander, 1878, Volume 1, p. 133.

5  Kamakau and Kepelino, page unknown. See Kawaharada, Dennis. “Exploration and Discovery,” Polynesian Voyaging Society, Section 3.1.1, ©1995.

6  Fornander, 1878, Volume 1, p. 23.

7  Fornander, 1878, Volume 1, p. 25.

8  Kawaharada, Dennis. “Hawai`iloa and the Discovery of Hawai`i,” Polynesian Voyaging Society, Section 3.3., ©1995. This section draws on the English version in Fornander, 1878, Volume 1 (VI), pp. 278-281 and the English and Hawaiian work of Kamakau, Samuel M. and Kepelino, Z., especially Kepelino, “Hawaii-nui,” Traditions of Hawaii, Bishop Museum, 1932, pp. 74-77.

9  Fornander, 1878, Volume 1, p. 23.

10  Kawaharada, “Hawai`iloa and the Discovery of Hawai`i,” Section 3.3., ©1995.

11  Kawaharada, “Hawai`iloa and the Discovery of Hawai`i,” Section 3.3., ©1995.

12  Kepelino has Hawai‘i-nui (Hawai‘iloa) sailing from a land called Kahiki-Honua-Kele.

13  Kawaharada, “Hawai`iloa and the Discovery of Hawai`i,” Section 3.3., ©1995.

14  Kawaharada, “Hawai`iloa and the Discovery of Hawai`i,” Section 3.3., ©1995.

15  Kawaharada, Dennis. “Exploration and Discovery,” Polynesian Voyaging Society, Section 3.1.1., ©1995.

16  Kawaharada, “Exploration and Discovery,” Section 3.1.1., ©1995. No mention of this by Fornander.

17  Fornander, 1878, Volume 1, p. 23.

18  Kawaharada, “Hawai`iloa and the Discovery of Hawai`i,” Section 3.3., ©1995.

19  Fornander, 1878, Volume 1, p. 23.

20  Kirch, Patrick. Feather Gods and Fishhooks, p. 64.

21  Fornander, 1878, Volume 1 (VI), p. 279. 

22  Some folktales say the other islands had not yet formed, others have them in place. See Fornander, Abraham. The Polynesian Race, 1878, Volume 1, p. 132 and 134 and also Kepelino, “Hawaii-nui,” Traditions of Hawaii, Bishop Museum, 1932, pp. 74-77.

23  Kepelino, “Hawaii-nui,” Traditions of Hawaii, Bishop Museum, 1932, pp. 74-77.

24  Fornander, 1878, Volume 1 (VI), p. 278. Other versions suggest that ‘awa and coconut were brought by those who settled Hawai‘i.

25  Kawaharada, “Hawai`iloa and the Discovery of Hawai`i,” Section 3.3., ©1995.

26  Kepelino, “Hawaii-nui,” Traditions of Hawaii, Bishop Museum, 1932, pp. 74-77.

27  Kawaharada, “Hawai`iloa and the Discovery of Hawai`i,” Section 3.3., ©1995.

28  Fornander, 1878, Volume 1, p. 23.

29  Kawaharada, “Hawai`iloa and the Discovery of Hawai`i,” Section 3.3., ©1995.

30  Depending on whether there were only two or more islands in the group.

31  Kawaharada, “Hawai`iloa and the Discovery of Hawai`i,” Section 3.3., ©1995.

32  Fornander, 1878, Volume 1, pp. 23-24.

33  Fornander, 1878, Volume 1, p. 24.

34  Fornander, 1878, Volume 1, p. 24.

35  Fornander, 1878, Volume 1, p. 25.

36  Kawaharada, Dennis. “The Settlement of Hawai`i,” Polynesian Voyaging Society, Section 3.1.3., ©1995.

37  Kawaharada, Dennis. “Hawai`iloa and the Voyage to Nukuhiva and Back  1995,” Polynesian Voyaging Society, Section 1.2., ©1995.

38  Kirch, Patrick. Feather Gods and Fishhooks, p. 64.

39  Kawaharada, “Hawai`iloa and the Voyage to Nukuhiva and Back — 1995,” Section 1.2., ©1995. See also Chapter 1, “The First Surfers.”

40  Kawaharada, “Hawai`iloa and the Discovery of Hawai`i,” Section 3.3., ©1995.

41  Fornander, 1878 Volume 1 (VI), p. 279.

42  Kawaharada, “Hawai`iloa and the Discovery of Hawai`i,” Section 3.3., ©1995.

43  Kawaharada, “Hawai`iloa and the Discovery of Hawai`i,” Section 3.3., ©1995.

44  Kawaharada, “Hawai`iloa and the Discovery of Hawai`i,” Section 3.3., ©1995.

45  Kawaharada, “Hawai`iloa and the Discovery of Hawai`i,” Section 3.3., ©1995.

46  Kawaharada, “Hawai`iloa and the Discovery of Hawai`i,” Section 3.3., ©1995.

47  Fornander, 1878, Volume 1, p. 135. Fornander translates that the marriage was done at sea, but this does not make sense because women only rode in the voyaging canoes when settlement was the aim for the destination. See also Kawaharada, “Hawai`iloa and the Discovery of Hawai`i,” Section 3.3., ©1995.

48  Kawaharada, “Hawai`iloa and the Discovery of Hawai`i,” Section 3.3., ©1995.

49  Kawaharada, “Hawai`iloa and the Discovery of Hawai`i,” Section 3.3., ©1995.

50  Kawaharada, “Hawai`iloa and the Discovery of Hawai`i,” Section 3.3., ©1995.

51  Kepelino, “Hawaii-nui,” Traditions of Hawaii, Bishop Museum, 1932, pp. 74-77.

52  Fornander, 1878, Volume 1 (VI), p. 281.

53  Cartwright, Bruce. “Some Allis of the Migratory Period,” Bishop Museum Occasional Papers, 1933, p. 105.

54  Kawaharada, “Hawai`iloa and the Discovery of Hawai`i,” Section 3.3., ©1995.

55  Randie Kamuela Fong quoted in Kawaharada, “Exploration and Discovery,” Polynesian Voyaging Society, Section 3.1.1., ©1995.

56  Fornander, 1878, Volume I, p. 137. 

57  Fornander, Abraham. An Account of the Polynesian Race: Its Origin and Migrations, Volume VI, pp. 278-281. The story begins with the genealogy of Hawai’i Loa for many generations, from the first man, Kumu Honua, and his wife Lalo Honua, who lived in a land called Kalana i Hauola, down to Aniani Ka Lani, Hawai’i Loa’s father and Ka Mee Nui Hikina, his mother.

58  Fornander VI. Kepelino’s version: Hawai’i-nui sailed from a land called Kahiki-Honua-Kele.

59  Kepelino’s version states that the canoe made landfall at the western end of the archipelago: “First he saw the island of Kaua’i, but he kept on sailing and found O’ahu and then the islands of the Maui group, then, seeing the mountains of Hawai’i, he k ept on until he reached that island. There he lived and named the island after himself. The other islands from Maui to Kaua’i were named for his children and for some who sailed with him. Here are the names of his children: Maui was the eldest, O’ahu younger, and Kaua’i the youngest. These names he gave to the three large islands, but the smaller islands were perhaps named for those who accompanied him.”

60  Kepelino’s version: Hawai’i-nui sailed to Hawai’i with his eight steersmen: Here are their names: Makali’i, a famous steersman and great farmer; Iao; Kahiki-Nui; Hoku ‘Ula [perhaps the star Aldebaran]; Maiao; Kiopa’a [“fixed,” one name for Polaris, the north star; also called Hokupa’a]; Unulau; Polohilani [perhaps the star Schedir in Cassiopeia]. And because of their skill in observing the stars, each one called the star he observed after his own name. One steersman, Kahiki-Nui, has a land district on Maui named after him.

61  Another passage in Fornander says “When Hawai’i Loa arrived here, there were only the two islands of Hawai’i-Loa and Maui-au-Ali’i; but during his time and close afterwards the volcanoes on Hawai’i and on Maui began their eruptions; and earthquakes and convulsions produced or brought to light the other islands” (279).

62  Earlier in the story we are told that only Hawai’i Loa came with a wife and children so he was “the special progenitor of this nation” (278). Kepelino concludes, “Hawai’i-nui was perhaps a chief or perhaps not; he was a man of high standing (ke kanaka ko’iko’i), as I see it. He had a granddaughter Ku-ka-lani-ehu, who lived in ancient times.” A note at the end of the Fornander version states, “In the first age, from Hawai’i Loa to Wakea, the royal authority and prerogative were not very well defined. T he chiefs were regarded more in the light of parents and patrons (haku), than as moi and ali’i-kapu, although they enjoyed all the honor and precedence due to their rank. This state of things was considerably altered by Wakea, his priest and successors, yet even so late as the time of Kanipahu, who refused the government, it is evident that the royal authority was not well settled in the olden times (‘aole he ano nui o na ali’i i ka wa kahiko loa ‘ku) (281).

63  See Kamakau, Tales and Traditions (133-135) for one version of the story of Papa and Wakea. Papa and Wakea are considered by many as the first female and male ancestors of the Hawaiian people: “Wakea, from whom all Hawaiian genealogies stem as the anc estors of the Hawaiian people, ‘both chiefs and commoners,’ is regarded as a man in Hawaiian tradition, not as a god as in southern groups [of Polynesia].” (Beckwith 294)

64  Fornander VI. pp. 278-281.

Doc, Ant (1944-2003)

Aloha and Welcome to this installment in the LEGENDARY SURFERS series on South African surfer Anthony van den Heuvel; called “Doc,” “Ant” or Tony by many friends.

This retrospective of Ant was put together shortly after his passing in 2003, by Garth Robinson and Andrew “Roosta” Lange with the help of Bruce Gold and some of Ant's other friends; submitted to me to be included in the LEGENDARY SURFERS collection.

Andrew “Roosta” Lange wrote:

"Energy cannot be created nor destroyed, but merely transferred from one object to another."

  – Albert Einstein 

Rest In peace Anthony 'Doc' van den Heuvel. Born 1944. Died Sunday morning, 21 September 2003, in his camp on the dunes overlooking Supertubes, Jeffreys Bay. 

The Doc will go down in history as one of South African surfings' martyrs – For his lifestyle, his attitude and interpretation of living to surf, staying on the beach and staking his claim and right to live and die on the dunes ovelooking one of the worlds most hallowed surfspots. It's a story so overwhelming and tidal I feel almost a little young and insignificant to reflect Doc's true message, so I have enlisted the help of three other 'custodians' of our South African surf culture; Bruce Gold, Christine Moller and Shorty Bronkhorst, interview-style to help weave this one down the line and into some proper sense! 

All three being Doc's true 'partners-in-crime', Christine and Doc were two of SA's first representatives charging the North Shore of Hawaii almost three decades back, whilst Bruce and Shorty go as far back as surfing itself and have shared Doc's path so we can be rest assured of an accurate and honest reflection of what really went down... 

Ant photo by Jason Coniry

AL: You and Doc were cruising together on you first trip to J-Bay, right?

Shorty: It was in 1966 when he came back from competing for South africa in Peru and ah, we actually did a trip to Cape Town and stopped off here in J-Bay on the way, and then stopped again on the way back. Then I had to get back, hey, and Doc said "Im staying a bit longer!" (laughs) and of course there was nothing here I mean not a house in sight. We all camped in the dunes down the bottom of the point. 

AL: What was the story with Doc when they wouldn't give him his Springbok colours? 

Shorty: He didn't actually get them because there was John Whitmore you see, who told him that if he didn't cut his hair he couldn't surf and he just wouldn't cut it! So they never gave him his colours. That tells you a lot about Doc, hey? Rather than cut his hair, he'd rather not have his Springbok blazer! (more laughing) 

AL: What do you reckon, Christine? 

Christine: "Well, I also knew Tony since he was sixteen. It was during the Durban Lifesaving Club days, he was with Pirates and Shorty was at South Beach then. Tony became a pro lifeguard as well. 

AL: So then how did you two end up meeting in Hawaii? 

Christine: I was over there from California and he came over from South Africa to stay and surf the North Shore. It was before all the contests started happening. Just before we left they started having one or two events, it was around '66 i think. 

AL: Did he charge? 

Christine: Charge what? Oh, (laughs) well, I guess he did – I think we were all were surfing like crazy in those days. 

AL: Were you guys like partying hard? What was the whole Hawaiian social scene like back then? Did you guys chill out in hammocks and drink weird smoothies or what? 

Christine: No, it was quiet. I mean we'd go home, make dinner, go to bed‘n get up early the next morning! There was no nightlife. There were some youngsters from San Francisco and they got a light show going in Honolulu, that was about it. 

AL: What about that really solid wave Bruce was telling us about that you and the Doc shared at Sunset when it was big? 

Christine: We had a lot of waves at Sunset, I suppose. Well, it's different; the waves over there. I had my semi-gun, that was a beautiful board from Greg Noll. I could ride it in three foot surf or ten foot surf.

AL: What was the story? 

Christine: I dunno, the waves got bigger and bigger the way I hear it! (more laughter) I don't think they were that big. I dunno. I suppose you don't think about it when you're young and strong, you just go out there and you surf! 

AL: Young and stupid, hey? Just like me! Bruce, where and when did you first meet Doc? 

Bruce: End of '68, hey, right here at the point. 

AL: Were you guys camping or what? 

Bruce: Ja, we came out here on a surfing trip and Doc was staying here in a half a bus, half a silver bus. He'd been here for a while. He had a sore back from doing a flick-flack on a tiny green 5'6" surfboard. I even saw him shaping a board on the beach with some Aussie. Gavin Rudolph rode it the first time. I remember that was J-Bay in 1968. 

AL: How would you describe Doc's style of surfing? 

Bruce: Very controlled, very powerful. Precise and considered surfing, stylish. 

AL: What era suited his surfing best? 

Bruce: Longboard surfing for sure. Mickey Dora came back here and he only rode longboards and he inspired us more or less to stay on the longboards. 

AL: Tell us a cool story about the Doc. 

Christine: Many years ago with my blue Kombi we went over to St Francis. We were actually looking at the pictures today. And Tony says "This is how you go in here," as he waxes his board. There's all those stones there and he goes climbing over the stones and jumps on his board and starts paddling and knocks his skeg off! (heaps of laughter) 

It was around '92 when I first heard from an Aussie that the infamous Doc was on the scene again, having moved out of the Pellsrus township. Staying at Koffie's Surf Camp, keeping the coals blazing around the fire and telling the tourists surf stories. I had to see it for myself and thus started my friendship and 'tutelage' with the Doc, Supertubes and the politics of Jeffreys Bay. Since all I'd ever heard through grommethood was the name, like he was one of the pioneers of J-Bay or something, respect came naturally. You see Doc was as respected as he was hated at times. Animo-city is not a place in Disneyland, it lives and breathes in the lungs of spoilt antagonists in towns just like J-Bay. Doc lived the way he wanted, which was not without confrontation. Negativity as a result of his actions, habits and attitude came and went like the tide, like the two sides of Doc; one unequivocally cool, the other on edge, disillusioned and angry at the way things had become with the scene, crowds and the reckless over-development of J-Bay.

Early winter two or so years ago a bunch of us who had been hanging in town surfing a few swells ended up carting Doc's stuff back out to the dunes. Armed with spades and some good pieces of wood, we re-established his camp. The thing was, well, is that not just anyone could have done something like that! Think about it, to be able to stake your claim to a piece of dune overlooking one of the worlds most hallowed surf spots and get away with it, you'd have to have lived a life like Doc’s! None could argue his right to be there. He'd been one of the first hanging on those dunes and flying down-the-line on those waves since '66. Nobody will ever be able to lay claim to a legacy of fast living and barrel riding like Doc's surfing career in J-Bay! Nobody. 

Physically, at 59 ripe years of age it was a challenge to camp in those dunes. For a while, he had his dog Faith and then Socks and all the crew in the 'office' under the boardwalk and things were rocking. Tight people, good times and bad. I'm sure a heap of us have spent many a day watching the show between sessions; Christine knitting Bippo beanies on one side, Bruce doctoring the Doc's back on the other while he grooved to his radio, crafting leather boots and sandals and dogs and pups ran around your feet like crazy! Doc's work was renowned the world over, check the old Art Brewer photo of his thigh-high Ugg boots, custom built for the infamous Bunker Spreckles, not to mention Mickey Dora's politically incorrect sealskin boots! (Still in the possession of one B. Gold) You just had to have patience and order your boots long before you left J-Bay. And so he eked out a few bucks from the leatherwork, did some interviews for surf mags and generally survived in a style one could only survive on in a place like J-Bay, with its history as a surf-travel mecca and international meeting place for all forms of tube riding. 

“Doc's presence on the boardwalk was like a part of the whole J-Bay package. After a day hussling or being hussled by locals in the sometimes ridiculously intense Supertubes line-up, foreigners could always talk to the real old local who'd been there forever." 

  – Jeffreys Bay resident 

"Aren't we all just a bunch of escape artists on the prowl for fun anyway!?!"

  –  Anonymous surfer 

The years ticked by and the inimitable Doc carried on with his tidal ways as the mood swings. Ill health and wild times reached a peak, literally, with one wild Christmas binge. The Doc started coming down. I'm sure i can say on behalf of a lot of people who knew him that the Doc that we knew in the time before he died was the most humble and reverant person around. You could almost see he knew how lucky he was to still be there and was gonna milk it for as long as he was still around! 

The Last Swell – full moon, Wednesday 10th September 2003 

Four daze of waves, two swells – the first peaking at almost twelve feet by late evening with only the usual suspects left out: Mickey Duffus, Asho, Brickez, Mikey Meyer, Stuey Shelver and Dave Weare. After the best day of surfing in ages, the boys were feeling festive, having a few Labels in the carpark, watching the show, when out the bush from the Point comes the infamous artist and resident head case Pierre de Villiers Fourie.

"Where the surfers now?" he shouts "I see lots of people watching but not too may out. I used to surf here by myself when it was about 15 foot! But now I'm dying, what do you care!" he rants and waves his big stick. Everyone shakes their head and we blame it on the moon shining full and silver like a coin as moonlight jumps and fades on the swell-filled bay. He rants some more and disappears in the direction of Doc's camp. About a half a Black Label later Doc shows up and we tell him the story. He sympathizes with Pierre's scenario, typical brilliant artist gone crazy and decrepid from time and circumstance, but still does not want to bump into him at all costs! The carpark starts emptying and we all filter outa there, hungry like hunters for the morning session... 

Next morning it's dropped to five, maybe six feet solid. Everyone's out already getting pitted – light northwest opening the barrels even more than usual. I watch Simon and Peter Nicholson get stand-up barrels, one brother after the other. 'The Foot' Greg Emslie is charging the bottom section while AC and Elsie carve deep in and out of barrels backhand, no rail-grabbing. It's epic to watch and I cruise down the boardwalk over to the Doc and Shorty. Doc's a mess and I ask what happened? "Pierre came into my camp last night and beat the shit outa me with his stick!" His elbow's swollen like a tennis ball, his breathing laboured from a shot across the back and he's limping from another shot on the hip.

Two or so days later the story continues as Christine cruises down the boardwalk to find Doc whose been sitting there in the sun all day because he's inable physically to climb the last little stretch into his camp. She takes him home for the night and over to Bruce in the morning for a massage. Doc confides in Bruce saying how he never really felt homeless until now, with Pierre on the loose.

Now, Doc never really was in the best physical condition in the first place and a knock across the back could be like a whack on the kidneys; you could just be walking around a week later and drop dead! As I write this, an autopsy declares that Doc died of natural causes: a heart attack. We don't know what really happened, but what we do know is that we lost a legend. We may or may not have been able to prevent it from happening, but some good must come from this all – it's Doc's message. 

"You can spend your whole life trying to figure out how to make a million or you can spend your time doing what you love and what you're good at!"

  – Doc quoted in South African Surfer magazine, 1970's

Ant in his prime. Photo courtesy of Ian Barron

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.