Lecture VIII. The Socio-Economic Interpretation of Folktales

Modern Collections and their Implications 1& 2

Part 2  Contemporary Fairy Tales

well, the making of contemporary legend.

Tourism is a fine source of new legend-making, and Hawaii is one place that discovered the tourist gig early on. 

Caption:  Ancient Hawaiian Scene, Totems, Hut, beach and canoe

I am particularly fascinated by the Surfboarding legends.  The Boards, the Places, and the Heroes--all the stuff of woven, ancient and modern, legend-making. (from the Legendary Surfers Page)

The Olo Surfboard

The olo was the more impressive of the Hawaiian boards and was reserved exclusively for the ali`i, the Hawaiian ruling class, in accordance with the kapu (taboo) system. It's possible that while the wili wili board of olo design was reserved for the use of the chiefs, the koa board of olo design was not off-limits to the common people -- the maka`ai-nana -- for general use. This may have been because of the scarcity of wili wili and plentiful occurrence of koa.

In the cross-section, the olo was thicker than the alaia and could weigh up to around 160 pounds. Some late 1700s European writers described boards that certainly were even heavier and up to twenty-four feet long. At that length, the weight of the boards would be well over 200 pounds. 1930s surfer Northrup Castle had a board weighing more than Abner Paki's; that was in the 200-pound range, "and he likes it," noted Tom Blake.

The olo was designed and shaped for large humping swells which roll in only in a limited number of surf spots, the most notable being Waikiki, on the South Shore of O`ahu. The olo ride was very long, but maneuverability was extremely limited. During the late 1920s, Tom Blake and then Duke Kahanamoku built 16-foot redwood boards according to olo specifications, testing them at Waikiki. In fact, the riding styles required to maneuver these replicas helped reconstruct most of what we know of the earlier olo technique. The olo's length and bulk allowed it to catch a swell long before it broke and further out to sea. Once the wave was caught, a surfer could slide easily along, even after the wave broke and started to flatten out. At the kulana nalu -- the take-off spot -- an olo might even catch a wave that began to peak but never broke; the kind of wave not uncommon for Waikiki when the swell is weak.

"Once on a wave" with an olo, noted Hawaiian chronicler John Papa Ii, "with the ride's angle set, the surfer had difficulty making fast turns, especially when the wave grew steep." Also, the huge board was hard to paddle through broken waves and sometimes had to be carried by canoe around the rushing waves to the kulana nalu.

`Owili (o-WE-lee) and `Onini (o-NEE-nee) are two names given to the olo board. The `Owili was an olo made out of wili wili. The `Onini was an olo known for its difficulty in riding and used only by experts. What the exact differences between these two olo boards were is unknown, exactly, but may have had to do with the type of wood used.

The olo was of particular interest to Tom Blake who, in part due to his research into the old Hawaiian boards, went on to invent the hollow board. Blake pointed out that since wili wili is "a porous light wood like balsa," an alaia designed board of wili wili would not be strong enough. Duke Kahanamoku's answer to why the old wili wili boards were reserved for the chiefs was that the light weight wood was scarce and highly valued.  "Therefore," wrote Duke, "the chiefs had wili wili boards for the same reason that a man has a Rolls-Royce automobile today, that he is wealthy and can afford it."

Because of the olo's limitations, it's tempting to dismiss the board as simply what the ali`i rode, but never in really large surf. However, both Duke and Blake rode their olo replicas at Castle and Papa Nui (outside Cunha) on big days in the 1920s and '30s. Certainly, the big wave boards of today are quite narrow and, compared to all other
surfboards, very long, so there is a connection.  As previously noted, all classes, ages and both sexes enjoyed surfriding in
pre-European Hawai`i.  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 and kapu restrictions applied, men and women shared surfing areas equally.

Compared to today's rather low ratio of surfing females-to-males, a large percentage of wahines of early Hawai`i were skillful surfers. Early European engravings are full of half-dressed island girls riding papa he'e nalu quite naturally.

As noted earlier, Ke-kai-o-Mamala, one of O`ahu's finest ancient surf spots, was named after the expert woman surfer 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."

"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."

Surfing as courtship is corroborated in a story that appeared in one of Honolulu's first Hawaiian language newspapers, most likely under missionary influence. In the December 23rd 1865 issue of Nupepa Kuokoa, in an article about "Ka Holomana Kahiko" (Ancient Sports of Hawai`i), 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 join with the men in hitting
the surf. If a man and woman rode in on the same wave together it was sometimes a sign of attraction. If that was the case, it was entirely natural for the two to later get into it, sexually.

"Hawaiian legends abound in tales of thwarted and successful love affairs," wrote Ben Finney, "and surfing played a part in many of them. Great romances could blossom or fade with the rising and falling of ocean swells. Passionate adventures of champion surfers, and some of the famous courtships that began on the edge of the ocean were recorded in Hawaii's abundant oral history. They indicate surfing's significance in the unwritten literature of the Hawaiian people."

Caption:  Sketch of Ancient Hawaiians Surfing

Similarly, the guidebooks and brochures are full of created Hawaii lore:

Moki’s Law: The chance of you dividing a manapua evenly in
half depends upon how much you want to share it.

Moki’s Law: The syrup in your shave ice will always run out
before the ice.

Moki’s Law: When all else fails, say you’re a tourist.

Moki’s Law: Clouds always have a way of following you to the
beach.

Moki’s Law: The best waves for surfing will always break while
you’re in school or at work.

Moki’s Law: The poi dog you got free from a friend will always
be smarter and cuter at their house.

Moki’s Law: There is always one more cockroach.

Moki’s Law: The guy you’re crazy about will always ask you out
on a night you have to go to a family gathering.

Moki’s Law: If an invitation says dinner at 6 PM (Hawaiian time)
you can safely assume they mean 7:30 PM.

Moki’s Law: Formal in Hawaii is a long sleeve T-shirt with rubber
slippers that don’t smell.

Moki’s Law: When in doubt talk pidgin, when in trouble talk
Hawaiian.

Moki’s Law: The chance of you losing the top of your shave ice
is directly proportional to how long the line was.

Moki’s Law: The page you need in the public telephone booth
will always be missing.

In keeping with our theme of looking at the socio-political aspect of modern folklore, we might examine these examples and see what we find.  Surely, the national character, as defined by the Hawaiians, themselves, is evident everywhere in their folklore.  The example of Hawaii is a good one to study, as the culture is much more explicitly evoked in the Hawaiian lore than in many others.  

Captiuon:  The great Mick Dora

Legendary Surfers

or, closer to home, the Malibu Legend:

Caption:  The Point at Malibu

Originally home to the members of the Chumash and Gabrielino tribes, Malibu had been inhabited for approximately 7,000 years. The word "Malibu" is a corruption of the Chumash word Maliwu, the name of the Chumash village located at the mouth of Malibu Canyon, near Malibu Point.

Following the area's takeover by the Spanish in 1805, 13,316 acres of shoreline and adjacent mountain land were granted by the Spanish government to Jose Tapia, a former soldier. The land was included as part of what became Rancho Topanga Malibu Sequit.