Editor’s note: highlighting the First Nations origins of a popular sport.

By Alexandra Mehl, Ha-Shilth-Sa, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Tofino, BC – As the sun beamed onto Esowista beach, youth of the Mułaa, Rising Tide Surf team gathered around Lacy Kaheaku, a native to Hawaiʻi, to learn how to carve traditional wooden surfboards and the Indigenous roots of the sport.

“Women did a lot of the surfing in native Hawaiian culture,” said Kaheaku, adding that royalty, alongside warriors, would also surf. “But majority of the leisurely surfing was done by women.”

Continue reading Reclaiming surfing as a traditional native women’s sport →