A drawing of “surf swimming” in Hawaii, in an English book printed in 1888. Bodyboarding and surfing
A drawing of “surf swimming” in Hawaii, in an English book printed in 1888. Bodyboarding and surfing were a part of Polynesian culture for a long time before it came to the attention of British and American colonists in Hawaii. Many Christian missionaries found surfing to be distasteful and even sinful. Hiram Bingham said of surfing, “The appearance of destitution, degradation, and barbarism, among the chattering and almost naked savages, whose heads and feet, and much of their sunburnt skins were bare, was appalling.”{WHF} {HTE} {Medium} -- source link
#history#surfing#bodyboarding#hawaii