[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:06.94,0:00:08.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For some, it's a serious sport.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:08.96,0:00:11.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For others, just a way to let loose.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:11.98,0:00:15.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But despite its casual association\Nwith fun and sun,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:15.44,0:00:20.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,surfing has a richer and deeper\Nhistory than many realize.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:20.02,0:00:23.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What we today call surfing originated in
Dialogue: 0,0:00:23.29,0:00:26.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the Polynesian islands \Nof the Pacific Ocean.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:26.82,0:00:28.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We know from various accounts
Dialogue: 0,0:00:28.77,0:00:32.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that wave riding was done \Nthroughout the Polynesian Pacific,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:32.78,0:00:36.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as well as in West Africa and Peru.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:36.99,0:00:39.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But it was in the Hawaiian archipelago\Nin particular
Dialogue: 0,0:00:39.69,0:00:42.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that surfing advanced the most,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:42.16,0:00:43.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was best documented,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:43.70,0:00:48.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and unlike elsewhere in Polynesia,\Npersisted.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:48.04,0:00:49.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And for the people of Hawaii,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:49.49,0:00:52.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,wave sliding was not \Njust a recreational activity,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:52.82,0:00:57.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but one with spiritual \Nand social significance.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:57.50,0:00:59.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Like much of Hawaiian society,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:59.02,0:01:04.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,nearly every aspect of surfing was\Ngoverned by a code of rules and taboos
Dialogue: 0,0:01:04.33,0:01:07.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,known as kapu.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:07.30,0:01:10.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Hawaiians made offerings when selecting\Na tree to carve,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:10.62,0:01:14.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,prayed for waves with the help\Nof a kahuna, or an expert priest,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:14.81,0:01:20.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and gave thanks after surviving\Na perilous wipeout.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:20.06,0:01:24.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Certain surf breaks were strickly reserved\Nfor the elite.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:24.63,0:01:27.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But it wasn't just a solemn affair.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:27.16,0:01:30.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Surfers competed and wagered\Non who could ride the farthest,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:30.42,0:01:31.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the fastest,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:31.44,0:01:34.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or catch the biggest wave\Nwith superior skill,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:34.97,0:01:36.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,granting respect,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:36.22,0:01:37.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,social status,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:37.60,0:01:41.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and romantic success.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:41.41,0:01:43.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Though it was later called\Nthe sport of kings,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:43.86,0:01:48.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Hawaiian men and women of all ages\Nand social classes participated,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:48.17,0:01:50.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,riding surfboards shaped from koa,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:50.03,0:01:50.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,breadfruit,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:50.96,0:01:54.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or wiliwili trees.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:54.03,0:01:56.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Many Hawaiians road Alaia boards,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:56.20,0:02:01.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which were thin, midsized,\Nand somewhat resemble today's shortboards.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:01.23,0:02:03.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Some mounted Paipo boards,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:03.04,0:02:08.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,short, round-nosed boards on which\Nriders typically lay on their stomachs.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:08.77,0:02:12.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But only chieftains could ride\Nthe massive Olo boards,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:12.72,0:02:15.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,twice as long as today's longboards.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:15.24,0:02:18.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Unlike most modern surfboards,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:18.12,0:02:19.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,all boards were finless,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:19.99,0:02:24.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,requiring surfers to drags their hands\Nor feet to turn.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:24.87,0:02:27.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We don't know exactly when wave sliding\Nwas invented,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:27.59,0:02:31.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but we know that it had already\Nbeen practiced in Polynesia for centuries
Dialogue: 0,0:02:31.99,0:02:36.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,by the time it was described in 1777\Nby William Anderson,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:36.72,0:02:41.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a surgeon on Captain Cook's ship,\NResolution.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:41.67,0:02:43.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Although Anderson was in awe,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:43.63,0:02:47.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,most of the American Christian \Nmissionaries who arrived in Hawaii
Dialogue: 0,0:02:47.36,0:02:48.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,several decades later
Dialogue: 0,0:02:48.96,0:02:51.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,regarded surfing as sinful,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:51.05,0:02:55.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and they discouraged it, along with\Nother aspects of native culture.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:55.92,0:03:00.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The biggest threat to surfing, however,\Nwas the threat to the natives themselves.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:00.21,0:03:04.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,By 1890, new illnesses introduced\Nby Europeans and Americans
Dialogue: 0,0:03:04.83,0:03:08.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,had decimated the Hawaiian people,\Nleaving fewer than 40,000
Dialogue: 0,0:03:08.91,0:03:14.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,from a pre-contact population \Nthat may have exceeded 800,000.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:14.35,0:03:16.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,At the same time, foreign influence grew
Dialogue: 0,0:03:16.76,0:03:22.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with white settlers overthrowing \Nthe native monarchy in 1893,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:22.05,0:03:25.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the U.S. annexing \Nthe islands five years later.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:25.83,0:03:30.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The end of Hawaii's independence coincided\Nwith surfing's native-led revival,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:30.86,0:03:37.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a revival soon exploited\Nby the American colonizers.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:37.30,0:03:40.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But first, some Hawaiians \Ntook surfing overseas.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:40.78,0:03:45.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In 1907, George Freeth,\Nthe so-called Hawaiian Wonder,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:45.57,0:03:47.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,traveled to the west coast
Dialogue: 0,0:03:47.17,0:03:51.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and gave surfing demonstrations \Nin southern California.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:51.78,0:03:55.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Then in 1914, Olympic swimmer\NDuke Kahanamoku
Dialogue: 0,0:03:55.59,0:03:58.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,made his way to Australia and New Zealand,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:58.78,0:04:00.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,gliding across the southern Pacific waves
Dialogue: 0,0:04:00.81,0:04:05.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and attracting rapt audiences \Nwherever he went.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:05.18,0:04:07.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Shortly before Freeth went to California,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:07.25,0:04:12.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a South Carolinian named \NAlexander Hume Ford moved to Hawaii.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:12.92,0:04:18.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,After learning to surf, he became \Na champion of the pastime.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:18.13,0:04:20.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But Ford may have had unsavory reasons
Dialogue: 0,0:04:20.44,0:04:25.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for his enthusiastic efforts \Nto boost the sport.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:25.03,0:04:28.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Like many settlers, he wanted Hawaii\Nto become a U.S. state,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:28.88,0:04:34.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but was worried about its non-white\Nmajority of natives and Asian workers.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:34.01,0:04:38.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Ford thus promoted surfing\Nto attract white Americans to Hawaii,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:38.81,0:04:42.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,first as tourists, then as residents.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:42.16,0:04:45.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He was helped by numerous writers\Nand filmmakers.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:45.39,0:04:48.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Ford's demographic plan \Nwould fail miserably.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:48.88,0:04:52.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Hawaii became a state in 1959
Dialogue: 0,0:04:52.28,0:04:56.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and remains the most racially diverse \Nstate in the Country.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:56.89,0:05:00.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But the promotion of surfing\Nwas a far greater success.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:00.57,0:05:04.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Today, surfing is a multi-billion dollar\Nglobal industry,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:04.27,0:05:08.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with tens of millions \Nof enthusiasts worldwide.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:08.50,0:05:13.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And though relatively few of these surfers\Nare aware of the once-crucial wave chants
Dialogue: 0,0:05:13.26,0:05:15.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or board carving rituals,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:15.17,0:05:17.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Hawaiians continue to preserve\Nthese traditions
Dialogue: 0,0:05:17.92,0:05:21.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,nearly washed away by history's waves.