History and Culture
Malama O Ke Kai, Malama Kakou
Take Care of the Ocean, Take Care of Each Other
The
sport of outrigger canoeing has been practiced for over 5000
years. Polynesians navigated the South Pacific in canoes almost
1000 years before Columbus landed in America.
Today, Pacific
Islanders still use canoes for inter-island transport. For the
Polynesian culture, outrigger canoes are more than just a means
of transportation. It is the primary means by which teamwork and sharing a sense of extended family (Ohana) are communicated
to one another all centered on the core value of performance
through cooperation.
Outrigger canoe racing is popular in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Cook
Islands, England, Fiji, France, Guam, Hawai'i, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, New Caledonia,
New Zealand - Aotearoa, Tahiti, Tonga, Samoa and the United States. In the
U.S., there are clubs in Arizona, California, Florida,
Massachusetts, Montana, Nevada, New York, Oregon, Philadelphia, Texas,
Virginia, Washington DC and Washington State.
Modern clubs were founded in Hawai'i during the early 1900’s.
The sport faltered during the World Wars, but came back strong
to become one of the most popular activities in Oceania.
In 1959, A.E. Toots Minvielle, a pioneer of outrigger canoe
racing started the Newport Beach to Catalina race, thereby
introducing the sport to Southern California. Today, there are
28 clubs within the Southern California Outrigger Racing
Association (SCORA) which encompasses Southern California, Arizona and Nevada
and hundreds of clubs worldwide.
Outrigger
canoe paddling is the official state sport of Hawai'i.
Traditional Hawai'ian
Dance shown through art
Artwork by
Kim Taylor Reece
History of Outrigger
Paddling
SCORA
Racing Association Chronicle
Respecting
your Outrigger Canoe
Spirit of Aloha
Canoe Etiquette
Hana Hoe Series
"The aloha spirit is real simple. You give and you
give and you give ... and you give from here (the heart), until you have nothing
else to give."
Rell Kapolioka`ehukai Sunn
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