Any surfer worth their salt would be able to tell you about surfing’s Hawaiian origins. But the specifics are lesser known, and sometimes misunderstood.
In this animated short from TED-Ed, an initiative that animates lessons from some of the world’s best educators, Scott Laderman a history professor at the University of Minnesota Duluth, succinctly tells the complex history of surfing’s Polynesian roots – a story wrapped up in colonialism and U.S. annexation.
This is a history lesson that touches anyone who has picked up a surfboard or any of its boardsport derivatives, including snowboarding, skateboarding, and wakeboarding.
