Pacific Passages: An Anthology of Surf Writing

Part I: Surfriding in Polynesian Culture

Part I Surfriding in Polynesian Culture [This page intentionally left blank.] Myths, Legends, Chants, and Proverbs Polynesian mythology encompasses legends of the most sacred divinities, stories of the highest chiefs, and the everyday folk wisdom of the common people. In song, in dance, in stories of lovers lost and found, surfriding weaves its way through these traditions and plays its own distinctive role in the life of the Pacific. Kelea, and the version of Lâ‘ie-i-ka-wai presented here, highlight surfriding’s most pervasive role in Polynesian mythology: a catalyst for love and desire. Riding waves provides an ideal opportunity for native men and women to intermingle in the surf and demonstrate their beauty and skill to one another. As we will discover, it also provides opportunities for deception. Upon seeing the interloper Hala-aniani “poised with great skill” on the crest of a wave, for example, Lâ‘ie-i-ka-wai yields to his “seductive fascination.” Such scenes are repeated time and again in Hawaiian lore, from the story of the two Kaua‘i princesses, Ho‘oipo and Hina‘û‘û, who “immediately fell in love with Mo‘ikeha” as he was surfriding, to the tale of the princess Kolea-moku whose desire suddenly piques when she sees that the prince, Kiha-a-Pi‘ilani, is a “fine looking man, and that he was an expert surf-rider.”1 According to Hawaiian historian Samuel M. Kamakau, chiefs and commoners enjoyed surfriding so much not only because it showed “which man or which woman was skilled,” but also “which man or woman was the best looking.”2 The two tales by William Westervelt demonstrate that seduction in the surf extends to Hawaiian ‘aumakua (guardian gods) and kupua (parthuman , part-divine beings). Depending on their fickle moods, divinities can either protect natives in the waves or lure them away. The broader tradition records the adventures of the young Kaua‘i chief Puna-‘ai-koa‘e (“Puna tropic-bird eater”) who sees the mo‘o goddess Kiha-wahine dissurfriding in polynesian culture | 17 guised as a beautiful woman and falls in love with her at Waikîkî. Assuring Puna-‘ai-koa‘e she knows the location of better waves, Kiha-wahine paddles him all the way to Moloka‘i, where they live happily in her cave until he—like Kelea—once again hears the call of the surf.3 For Puna-‘ai-koa‘e, Kelea, the Kaui‘i prince Ka-hiki-lani (in Clarice B. Taylor’s “Faithless Lover Is Turned to Stone”) and countless others, desire for the opposite sex directly competes with the equally strong desire to ride waves. Mele inoa, or name chants, are the most common songs to include reference to surfriding. They honor the skill of chiefs and kings, they evoke the beauty and drama of the waves themselves, and, in the many repetitions of specific locales and generational ancestors, they emphasize the enormous importance of place and parentage in Polynesian culture. Mary Kawena Pukui’s translation of the “Name Chant for Naihe” is the closest surfriding comes to having an epic poem, a six-part mele inoa that both glorifies Kane and the many surf breaks he visits, and honors the island progenitors Wâkea and Papa from whom all Hawaiians trace their lineage. Several of the selections in this part of the book were originally gathered from native informants and published in the latter half of the nineteenth century, a time when the Hawaiian race was threatened with extinction and a certain urgency compelled native and non-native historians to gather as much information as possible on traditional beliefs. Others represent more contemporary expressions of a thriving oral tradition: myth and song that celebrate surfriding and draw upon its inherent adventure and possibilities for intrigue. As surfriding continues to grow in popularity around the world, these stories ancient and modern reinforce its deep roots in the island cultures where surfriding was born and nurtured. 18 | part i ...