Isaiah Walker, a BYU-Hawaii history department chair and one of the leading experts on the history of surfing, was a feature part of the film titled, “Hawaiian: the Legend of Eddie Aikau.” The film made its worldwide television premiere on Oct. 1 as part of a new volume of the ESPN 30 for 30 series of independent sports documentaries. “Hawaiian: the Legend of Eddie Aikau” was directed by Sam George, a professional surfer, writer, director and screenwriter. Walker was chosen to participate in the film because of his book, “Waves of Resistance,” a book based on a dissertation he completed in a graduate school at the University of California in Santa Barbara focusing on surfing, colonialism, and Hawaiian masculinity. In “Waves of Resistance,” Walker criticizes the film Riding Giants, which was directed by Sam George. Walker said, “I got a call one day and a guy said, ‘Hey, this is Sam George and I wanted you to know I read your book.’” Walker laughed, and explained the awkward situation. Walker replied to George and said, “So, what did you think?”’ George then invited Walker to participate in the film about Eddie Aikau, hoping to get Walker’s help in correcting some of the mistakes about Hawaiian surf history he had made in his previous surf film. Hawaiians love Eddie Aikau, seeing him “as a deity,” said Walker. Walker has a profound respect for Eddie and the Aikau family. When George approached Walker with the idea of focusing the movie around the life of Eddie Aikau, Walker called the Aikau family and asked if they were okay with it. “They said they trusted George,” he said, “so I did it.” George was inspired by Eddie Aikau’s life, having known him as a great surfer. He said in an interview with ESPN that he had been surfing in Waikiki on March 16, 1978 and had waved at the Hokule’a because he “had heard that Eddie Aikau was one of the crew members. We may have been some of the last surfers to have seen Eddie Aikau.” Inspired by his life and the way he left life, George’s film on Eddie Aikau is meant to show “that a real hero is someone who cares, even when it’s not easy to do so. But I’d also like viewers to come away with a deeper understanding of how remarkable surfing is as a sport. Not merely a derivative of mock warfare, surfing is the original adventure sport and the most enduring vestige of the remarkable Hawaiian culture,” said George. Gentry Bailey, a sophomore in Spanish education from Kona, Hawaii, said, “Giving his life was amazing. Eddie Aikau’s life is an inspiration because of what he stood for as a surf champion, lifeguard on the North Shore, and in the great sacrifice he gave trying to save his crew.” “There would be no Kelly Slater today if not for Eddie Aikau back then,”said Sam George.
Writer: Alyssa Walhood~Multimedia Journalist
