Conflicting reports of surfing’s near-demise in 19th-century Hawai‘i compel us to re-evaluate historical sources of information and look to recently-available newspaper databases to understand how surfing fared during a century of monumental change. I argue that while surfing remained suppressed by influential haole (non-Hawaiians, especially those of European origin) around the capital of Honolulu, areas outside of the capital, both on O‘ahu and on other Hawaiian islands, kept the cultural traditions alive. A review of primary sources indicates that the story of surfing’s demise was perpetuated by haole who had vested interests in furthering specific religious, economic and political agendas in the Hawaiian Islands and who were deeply committed to the colonial process. Three categories of newspaper articles in particular—missionary declamations against surfing, topical reports of Hawaiians riding waves, and reports of surf exhibitions staged for travellers—provide collective evidence that Native Hawaiians did not in fact abandon surfing but continued to practice their national pastime.

中文翻译：

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19世纪夏威夷冲浪的耐力

关于19世纪夏威夷濒临灭绝的报道相互矛盾，这迫使我们重新评估历史信息来源，并借助最近可用的报纸数据库来了解一个世纪的巨变期间冲浪的发展情况。我认为，虽然在檀香山首府附近仍受到有影响力的无名小卒（非夏威夷人，尤其是欧洲血统）的压制，但首都外的瓦胡岛和其他夏威夷群岛上的地区却使文化传统得以保留。对主要消息来源的评论表明，冲浪的灭顶故事是长期存在的，他一直对促进夏威夷群岛的特定宗教，经济和政治议程抱有浓厚的兴趣，并坚定地致力于殖民进程。