Enthusiasts and advocates looking to promote the sport have written the history of surfing. As a result, the historiography is limited in its degree of professional research. To understand the decline of the sport in conjunction with the arrival of Europeans to Hawaii in the nineteenth century, it is necessary to examine the history of the Hawaiian Islands. This provides a larger context in which to study the sport of surfing. The main historical work on surfing, Surfing: The Sport of Hawaiian Kings by Finney and Houston, accomplishes this task. While this short study does shine a light on the dark history of surfing, it lacks detailed evidence and analysis of the decline of the sport. However, recent books on the history of surfing merely cite the research of Finney and Houston in opening chapters while the bulk of the studies is devoted to the modern development of the sport and its culture.
In 1966, Ben Finney and James Houston co-authored Surfing: The Sport of Hawaiian Kings by building upon a series of articles written by Finney including his M.A. thesis in anthropology titled Hawaiian Surfing, A Study in Cultural Change. The research reveals that the sport of surfing rapidly declined in Hawaii during the nineteenth century. The authors argue that this decline was the result of cultural changes that took place in Hawaii beginning soon after the arrival of Captain James Cook in 1778. Finney and Houston state,
“Following that event, increasing numbers of foreigners visited Hawaii – mainly Europeans and Americans who came first as explorers and traders and later as missionaries and settlers … The rapid disintegration of traditional life during this period of expanding foreign contact amounted to a cultural revolution. Old ways were abandoned as the islanders copied the more sophisticated, technically-advanced Caucasians (Finney and Houston, 58).”
Economic, Political, and Social changes resulted in the decline of Hawaiian cultural and the sport of surfing. Hawaiians developed a trade network with the Europeans dealing in Sandalwood and sugar. “Economically, the development of barter, trade and industry undermined the traditional subsistence-based Hawaiian economy (Finney and Houston, 58).” Politically, Caucasians (this is the term used by Finney and Houston) encouraged the unification of the Hawaiian Islands under one ruler and eventually forced the Hawaiian rulers out of power to establish their own government further contributing to the erosion of Hawaiian culture. Socially, missionaries brought education and religion to the islands resulting in the abandonment of traditional religious customs. Additionally, Kinney and Houston argue, “The combined effect of all this – the fall of the kapu system, the loss of leisure time, the attractions of new culture, and the restrictions of a new religion – upon the decline of traditional pastimes, as well as other ancient customs, was augmented by an incredible population decline that spread throughout the islands (Finney and Houston, 63).” The authors compare the effects of cultural changes and depopulation in Hawaii with that of Tahiti to support the argument that these changes led to the decline of the sport of surfing.
Finney and Houston place the causes of the decline of surfing squarely on the arrival of Caucasians from America and Europe. The native Hawaiians are presented as victims of cultural imperialism with the main thrust of abuse coming from missionaries. The chapter detailing the decline of surfing is title “The Touch of Civilization.” The authors are writing in 1966 during the rise of the counter-culture movement in the United States. Surfing was initially part of this movement as American teens embraced the free spiritedness of the sport that encouraged youth to forget about their responsibilities and head to the beach. Surfing: The Sport of Hawaiian Kings reflects this counter-culture spirit, however it lacks the voice of the indigenous Hawaiian. To what extent did Hawaiians resist the cultural imperialism of Caucasians? An answer may be difficult to find because Hawaiians did not have a written language until the arrival of missionaries.
Other histories on the sport of surfing (e.g. Edward 1967, Kahanamoku 1968, Kampion 2003, Young 1983) reflect the Euro and American centrism of Finney and Houston. They cite the sources of Captain James Cook and Hiram Bingham as the earliest accounts of surfing by Europeans. The decline of the sport is attributed to the causes argued by Finney and Houston, mainly depopulation and cultural changes, with particular blame on the restrictions imposed by missionaries. This historiography reflects the limited sources on surfing in the nineteenth century. Finney and Houston used Hawaiian chants, missionary reports, and explorers’ diaries. The bulk of their research on the decline of surfing comes from the limited viewpoint of Europeans.
The only Hawaiian agency in the history is given to Duke Kanhanmoku an Olympic swimmer and native Hawaiian who toured the world in the early twentieth century demonstrating his gold medal swim technique and surfing. Duke is portrayed as one of the saviors of the sport after its decline in the nineteenth century. He has written his own account of the sport titled World of Surfing. However, in similar style to the majority of books on surfing, his account is written for a commercial audience in order to popularize the sport. These histories (e.g. Edward 1967, Kahanamoku 1968, Kampion 2003, Young 1983) lack bibliographies and source footnotes. As a result, they rely heavily on the research of Kinney and Houston. Left unanswered are questions about the causes of depopulation and native Hawaiian reactions and resistance to European and missionary actions. What diseases afflicted the Hawaiians? How did they respond? What sort of treatments developed? Did this affect the daily lives of Hawaiians? Who were the missionaries that arrived in Hawaii? How did they restrict Hawaiians from participating in traditional customs? How did this affect the sport of surfing? These questions can be answered by examining the larger historiography of Hawaii.
In Aloha Betrayed, Noenoe Silva provides analysis of Hawaiian newspapers to demonstrate the strong degree of resistance exhibited by native Hawaiians to American colonialism. Silva argues that in order to study Hawaiian history, the historian must learn the native language. The historiography of Hawaii lacks the perspective of the Hawaiian people if the only sources used are those written in English. This is the crux of the problem involving the historiography of surfing. Although Finney and Houston use some Hawaiian chants, it is merely to describe how important surfing was to the culture. Their analysis stops there. How did the Hawaiians respond to European denigration of Hawaiian culture and surfing in particular? By following Silva’s lead, Hawaiian sources – written in the native language – need to be examined.
Another area of research yet to be fully examined is medical history of the Hawaiian Islands. It is necessary to examine the impact of disease on native Hawaiian culture. According to Finney and Houston, the decline of the native culture was due impart to the depopulation caused by disease, however they do not provide evidence to support this argument. In The Gifts of Civilization: Germs and Genocide in Hawaii, author O. A. Bushnell provides a medical history of the Hawaiian Islands. By examining this medical history, it may be possible to demonstrate a direct link between disease and the decline of surfing.
In conclusion, it is evident that the historiography of surfing is lacking a native Hawaiian perspective. To understand the decline of the sport in the nineteenth century it is necessary to link research on Hawaiian resistance and medical history with the sport of surfing. This will reveal a new understanding of the origins of the sport and its decline and survival.
Preliminary Bibliography
European Encounters and the Decline of Surfing in Hawaii
Carl Ackerman History 9200—001—Research Seminar in American History
1. Banks, Joseph. The Endeavour Journal of Joseph Banks: 1768 – 1771. London: Angus & Robertson, LTD, 1963.
2. Cook, James. The Journals. New York: Penguin Books, 2003.
3. Edwards, Phil with Ottum, Bob. You Should Have Been Here an Hour Ago. 1st ed. New York: Harper & Row, 1967.
2. Fairmont, Gary and Filosa, R. The Surfer’s Almanac. 1st ed. Toronto: Clarke, Irwin & Company, 1977.
3. Finney, Ben R. and Houston, James D. Surfing: The Sport of Hawaiian Kings. 1st ed. Rutland, Vermont & Tokyo, Japan: Charles E. Tuttle Company, 1966.
4. Ford, Nick and Brown, David. Surfing and Social Theory: Experience, embodiment, and narrative of the dream glide. 1st ed. New York: Routledge, 2006.
5. Howe, E.W. Daily Notes of a Trip Around the World. Topeka, KS: Crane & Company, 1907.
6. Kahanamoku, Duke with Brennan, Joe. World of Surfing. 1st ed. New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1968.
7. Kampion, Drew. Stoked: A History of Surf Culture. Revised ed., Layton, Utah: Gibbs Smith, 2003.
8. Klein, H. Arthur. Surfing. 1st ed. Philadelphia and New York: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1965.
9. Kuhns, Grant W. On Surfing. 1st ed. Rutland, Vermont & Tokyo, Japan: Charles E. Tuttle Company, 1963.
10. Murray-Oliver, Anthony. Captain Cook’s Hawaii: As Seen By His Artists. Wellington, New Zealand: Millwood Press, 1975.
11. Nelson, William Desmond. Surfing: A Handbook. 1st ed. Philadelphia: Auerbach Publishers Inc., 1973.
12. Pearson, Kent. Surfing Subcultures of Australia and New Zealand. 1st ed. St. Lucia, Queensland: University of Queensland Press, 1979.
13. Young, Nat. The History of Surfing. 2nd ed., Layton, Utah: Gibbs Smith, 1994.
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