WHAKAHEKEHEKE. WHAKAHEKE NGARU
Surfing is one of the oldest, still practiced sports on the planet. The art of wave riding, is a blend of total athleticism and the comprehension of the beauty and the power of nature. It is one of the few sports that creates its own culture and lifestyle and has been a way of Life for thousands of Years for the Tribes of the Pacific. In ancient times, surfing prowess earned you, actual political power.
For Polynesians, surfing was a way to establish social rank and political power. The man who was the best surfer became the chief of the tribe. Social structure was established through surfing, with the best beaches and the best boards reserved for the upper classes. Surfing skill was well respected throughout the community, however commoners could elevate their social status by proving their skills on the heavy inferior boards that they surfed with.
The Maori’s were Surfing in New Zealand pre the European settlement. Surfing was known as whakarerere, which is canoe surfing, bodyboard surfing and body surfing.
The influence of the Europeans settlers led to the sports slow decline, until the arrival of the modern father of surfing from Hawaii “The Duke” Kahanamoku at Lyall bay in Wellington in 1915.
This event was the catalyst to reinvigorate the passion for surfing in its modern form. The “Duke” and his demonstration of surfboard riding at Wellington’s, Lyall Bay, witnessed by thousands, excite many of those present and rekindled the flames of passion for surfing.
As in Australia, New Zealand’s board surfers came from within the Surf lifesaving movement which kept the sport alive for the next forty years until the development of lighter, more maneuverable surfboards.
In Christchurch in 1954, as a 12-year-old boy and a member of Sumner surf lifesaving club, Denis Quane had that passion and went on to become one of the pioneers of a fledgling surfboard industry, firstly in restoring the wooden surf skis, for surf club members, then experimenting with surfboard designs, new materials and construction techniques. Quane became one of the leading surfboard manufacturers in New Zealand producing thousands of surfboards which are still ridden today. Some of the boards manufactured by Quane will become a pivotal element of the planned exhibition.
Because of the importance of acknowledging and recording our history, we are gathering together these resources with a view to educate the community on the roll surfing played within society in years gone by and also it provides an opportunity to educate the young and connect with the surfing Whānau
The planned exhibition of surf craft and memorabilia at New Brighton, over the Duke Festival of Surfing event from the 18th to the 26TH of March 2017 is an acknowledgement of the importance of ”the surfing Whānau “within the larger community, a celebration of surfing and the culture and life style associated with it.
The surfing community will be directly involved in this event by providing the exhibition resource, the surfboards, which have been collected over many years by surfers both young and old who share that same passion Captain Cook witnessed and I quote “I could not help concluding that this man felt the most supreme pleasure while he was driven on so fast and so smoothly by the sea." This is taken from Cooks dairies having just witnessed a Pacific Islander catching a wave
The boards will come from all over New Zealand with a number of boards coming from our cousins across the ditch for the display, also included, possibly the oldest surfboard in New Zealand, a traditional Hawaiian Alaia surfboard, to the last surfboard produced by Denis Quane.
