Who Brought Surfing to California? No, It Wasn’t Duke Kahanamoku
Surfing as the world knows it began in Polynesia, with its strongest roots taking hold in the Hawaiian archipelago. Despite a few nations’ recent attempts to lay claim to the throne (sorry Peru, but reed fishing boats aren’t surfboards) this is known to pretty much everyone. Where there is a lot of confusion, however, is with respect to where and when it spread to California and the rest of the USA, and more importantly – by whom. It’s the latter we want to draw your attention to today.
To begin with, we must make something clear – Duke Kahanamoku did not introduce surfing to California. While we’d be more impressed by anyone who contended that it was George Freeth, who reignited interest in surfing prior to Kahanamoku in 1907, we’d have to correct them as well. Instead, surfing was introduced to California through the nephews of Queen Kapiolani.
For the uninitiated, Kapiolani was the Queen of the Hawaiian Kingdom as the consort of King Kalākaua. Kalākaua reigned from 1874 until his death in 1891. Queen Kapiolani took great interest in the health and welfare of Native Hawaiians and served as an ambassador of the culture. It was important to her and King Kalākaua that the next generation of Hawaiian leaders attain a broader education beyond the North Pacific. Consequently, Kapiolani’s nephews were sent to America to pursue an education while not-so inadvertently pollinating Hawaiian culture wherever they resided. Ironically, this involved introducing surfing to the very same country whose Protestant missionaries obtusely banned it decades prior.
How Queen Kapiolani’s Nephews Introduced Surfing to California (and where and when it happened)
Three Hawaiian Princes Walk Into a NorCal Timber Mill…
The eldest of Kapiolani’s nephews was Prince David Laamea Kahalepouli Kawananakoa Piikoi (1868-1908). He was followed by Prince Edward Abnel Keliʻiahonui (1869-1887) and Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole (1871-1922).. All three attended Saint Matthew’s School, a private Episcopal military school in San Mateo CA that located 60-miles from the wave-rich Santa Cruz coastline.
On one fateful day during the summer of 1885, the Piʻikoi Brothers (or “Three Princes”) approached the Grover Brothers timber mill in Santa Cruz and commissioned the mill to fashion three redwood planks to mirror the specs of the ancient Hawaiian olo surfboard. Upon completion, the boards were brought to the mouth of the San Lorenzo River where the three princes would paddle out and put on a wave riding exhibition that would spark the interest and imaginations of young men, women, and children who bore witness. The royal Hawaiians birthed an entire California culture and lifestyle that season. Tom Curren would be hocking insurance door-to-door in Santa Barbara is it weren’t for the Piʻikoi Brothers.
What Happened Next?
The middle sibling Prince Edward Abnel Keliʻiahonui died soon after gifting California the culture of surfing. His demise at just 18 years of age came from one of America’s reciprocal contributions to the people of Hawaii – typhoid fever. His brothers escaped its clutches and ventured overseas to the British Isles in September of 1890 to further their education, True to form, Kawānanakoa and Kūhiō introduced surfing to the British Isles. They even taught their English tutor John Wrightson to surf Bridlington beaches in northern England. Wrightson would go on to share his newfound passion with anyone brave enough to enter the 42 °F sea with him.
Why Aren’t They a Household Name?
Queen Kapiolani’s nephews did more than bring surfing to California and the United States of America. They expanded the empire overseas. And yet, there is no grand statue of the three Piʻikoi Brothers to greet tourists along side the Duke Kahanamoku effigy in “Surf City USA” (Huntington Beach) at the corner of Main and PCH. Nor are they represented within the city’s International Surfing Museum where a bust of Kahanamoku also resides. There are no restaurants named after them (like Duke’s) in Huntington, La Jolla , or Malibu either. Charlie Carr, a non-Hawaiian who owns the trademark rights to Duke Kahanamoku has done some savvy marketing to keep Duke’s name in the spotlight over the years. Meanwhile, the Piʻikoi Brothers have become a footnote at best. Thankfully, Santa Cruz remembers the three princes who glided atop its cold waters nearly a century and-a-half ago on olo boards. The Santa Cruz Surfing Museum has installed a monument (pictured below) to honor our cherished Hawaiian princes, and Surf Museum Hawaii is forever grateful to them for doing so. We intend to do the same by positioning their name in the same conversations about Duke Kahanamoku (and George Freeth) whenever discussing how the Hawaiian kingdom brought surfing to California, and the world.
