There are many things we take for granted assuming that in some way, they’re always just been there. And in some instances, that may very well be the case. Everyone knows that Hawaii is a great place for surfing and probably came from there as a part of some ancient past time. While this is relatively accurate, by not looking into the history of something like surfing, you may be missing some of the most interesting things about it like the people who are a big part of its history. And that’s where we start today with a man called Duke Kahanamoku.

Born as Duke Paoa Kahinu Mokoe Hulikohola Kahanamoku in Honolulu on August 24, 1890, Kahanamoku grew up to be an incredible athlete. He was a competitive swimmer winning several Olympic medals. But what makes Kahanamoku such a legend today is surfing. It’s this man who is mainly credited with bringing surfing to the US and the world through his various surfing exhibitions around the globe. People flocked to see this new sport and he attracted many impressive new friends. In fact, there’s even a story about the Big Kahuna as he was sometimes called, giving the future king of England, Edward VIII a surf lesson!

With his good looks and athletic physique, Hollywood also came knocking and this war hero became an actor making a few movies in between his swimming and surfing careers.

Duke Kahanamoku was indeed an interesting character and every article I come across about him makes him an even more amazing person. But as someone who doesn’t particularly enjoy sports, why would I be interested in learning more about him? Because of a little instrument called a ukulele.

The ukulele is another one of those quintessential things we think of when we think of Hawaii but while the instrument may have its origins on the Hawaiian islands, it was Portuguese emigrants who were responsible for its creation. Even the music we think of as being Hawaiian is a glorious mixture of traditional Hawaiian and European music. The book A Flea Or Not A Flea? by Roland Prakken is one of the latest attempts to cover the history of this instrument and it’s here that I first learned about the Big Kahuna and the ukulele.

Kahanamoku was born to a lesser noble family and it seems that through these family connections, he was able to learn and be a part of the early history of the ukulele and its music. Duke was apparently a very good musician and singer but unfortunately, we have to take history at its word as no recordings of him have survived. But his mark on the instrument was made as early ukulele manufacturers put his name on the instrument forever tying surfing, the ukulele, and Hawaii together.