Hawaiian Surfboard and the Writing of Surf History

A close reading of Tom Blake’s Hawaiian Surfboard (1935)--the first book to present the history of surfing from ancient Hawaiian legends through the early twentieth century--reveals Blake’s appropriation of Native Hawaiian identity as he inserts himself into Hawaiian history alongside legendary figures. His fantasy might be considered nothing more than a white man’s self-indulgence if not for the significant influence that Hawaiian Surfboard exerted on later histories of surfing. The essence of this influence--exemplified, for example, in Ben R. Finney and James D. Houston’s Surfing: The Sport of Hawaiian Kings (1966)--propagates “rescue” narratives that work as a blanket justification for appropriating cultural traditions and assuming political control of Hawai`i and its people.