Nalu

Surfing as most people know it is only about a century old, and even the English word for it was coined in the 1800s by Western visitors to Hawaiʻi who lacked any way to describe what they were watching. Hawaiians already had their own name for riding waves: heʻe nalu, meaning wave-sliding. The practice goes back more than 1,000 years, which makes it the oldest sport in North America and a central part of Hawaiian life.

For ancient Hawaiians, heʻe nalu was far more than recreation. It came with its own rituals, holidays, shrines and mythology. When the surf was good, whole villages set aside their work and headed for the water, where men, women and children rode waves, competed, flirted and visited with one another. Rulers reserved the best breaks for themselves, and each handcrafted board was blessed in a sacred ceremony before use.

Nalu takes in this whole tradition through a mix of modern and archival surfing photography, proverbs, ceremonies and legends from ancient Hawaiʻi, along with stories and advice from today's water-sport icons. It presents surfing's mother culture and the people who have carried it forward. The book draws on historical texts, several of which Marie Alohalani Brown has translated into English for the first time.

Brown is a scholar of Hawaiian language and a lifelong practitioner of Hawaiian water culture. She wrote the book with Ian Lendler, an award-winning author and devoted surfer. Together they offer a richly illustrated look at surfing's roots, for readers who want to understand the sport more deeply or who simply feel drawn to the ocean.