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Surfing’s Olympic debut celebrates the sport and exposes whitewashed Native Hawaiian roots

By Associated Press

July 13, 2021

Hawaii Photos

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Isaiah Helekunihi Walker, a Native Hawaiian historian and professor, paddles out to surf in Laie, Thursday, July 8. For some Native Hawaiians, surfing’s Olympic debut is both a celebration of a cultural touchstone invented by their ancestors, and an extension of the racial indignities seared into the history of the game and their homeland.
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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Isaiah Helekunihi Walker, a Native Hawaiian historian and professor, speaks with The Associated Press on a beach in Laie, Thursday, July 8. Though it was three Native Hawaiian princes who first showed off surfing to the mainland in 1885 during a visit to Santa Cruz, California, white businessmen are credited with selling surfing and Hawaii as an exotic tourism commodity for the wealthy.
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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Carissa Moore practices for a World Surf League competition at Surf Ranch on Wednesday, June 16, in Lemoore, Calif. The Summer Games in Tokyo, which kick off this month, serve as a proxy for that unresolved tension and resentment, according to the Native Hawaiians who lament that surfing and their identity have been culturally appropriated by white outsiders who now stand to benefit the most from the $10 billion industry.
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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Surfer Tatiana Weston-Webb of the United States works out on a Surf Ranch wave during practice rounds for the upcoming Olympics Wednesday, June 16, in Lemoore, Calif. The Summer Games in Tokyo, which kick off this month, serve as a proxy for that unresolved tension and resentment, according to the Native Hawaiians who lament that surfing and their identity have been culturally appropriated by white outsiders who now stand to benefit the most from the $10 billion industry.
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ASSOCIATED PRESS / 1924

Johnny Weissmuller, left, and Duke Kahanamoku are seen at the 1924 Olympic games in Paris. For some Native Hawaiians, surfing's Olympic debut is both a celebration of a cultural touchstone invented by their ancestors, and an extension of the racial indignities seared into the history of the game and their homeland. Kahanamoku was a Native Hawaiian swimmer who won five Olympic medals and is known as the godfather of modern surfing who introduced the sport in surfing exhibitions in Australia and California.
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ASSOCIATED PRESS / 1933

Duke Kahanamoku, Hawaiian Olympic swimmer, poses in a swimming pool in Los Angeles. For some Native Hawaiians, surfing's Olympic debut is both a celebration of a cultural touchstone invented by their ancestors, and an extension of the racial indignities seared into the history of the game and their homeland. Kahanamoku was a Native Hawaiian swimmer who won five Olympic medals and is known as the godfather of modern surfing who introduced the sport in surfing exhibitions in Australia and California.
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ASSOCIATED PRESS / 1935

Two surfers ride the crest of a wave back to the beach in Honolulu, Hawaii. For some Native Hawaiians, surfing's Olympic debut is both a celebration of a cultural touchstone invented by their ancestors, and an extension of the racial indignities seared into the history of the game and their homeland. The Summer Games in Tokyo, which kick off this month, serve as a proxy for that unresolved tension and resentment, according to the Native Hawaiians who lament that surfing and their identity have been culturally appropriated by white outsiders who now stand to benefit the most from the $10 billion industry.
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ASSOCIATED PRESS / 1961

Members of the North Bay surfing club upload their surf boards from a station wagon at Malibu Beach, Calif. For some Native Hawaiians, surfing's Olympic debut is both a celebration of a cultural touchstone invented by their ancestors, and an extension of the racial indignities seared into the history of the game and their homeland. The Summer Games in Tokyo, which kick off this month, serve as a proxy for that unresolved tension and resentment, according to the Native Hawaiians who lament that surfing and their identity have been culturally appropriated by white outsiders who now stand to benefit the most from the $10 billion industry.
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ASSOCIATED PRESS / 1965

Youthful actors in a Hollywood movie amuse themselves between shooting scenes at California's Malibu Beach by staging an airborne twist exhibition on top of a surf board. For some Native Hawaiians, surfing's Olympic debut is both a celebration of a cultural touchstone invented by their ancestors, and an extension of the racial indignities seared into the history of the game and their homeland. The Summer Games in Tokyo, which kick off this month, serve as a proxy for that unresolved tension and resentment, according to the Native Hawaiians who lament that surfing and their identity have been culturally appropriated by white outsiders who now stand to benefit the most from the $10 billion industry.

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