Eddie Aikau became a huge part in the shaping of Native Hawaiians  He influenced and brought pride back to the Native Hawaiians through his surfing and love of helping others. He showed non-native Hawaiians that he and his people were just as capable of surfing as they were. Eddie was a great representative of Native Hawaiians because of how he came from almost nothing then started to compete at the highest level in surfing, also showed the non-natives that the Native Hawaiians were still there and could still surf, and that he took pride in saving people and helping others.

Eddie influenced Native Hawaiians by his surfing in many ways because he persevered through his hardships. He came from a very poor family and he would go down to the beach and ride on tiny board whenever he could and eventually became very good at it. He later discovered surfboards and fell in love with surfing and would try and surf everyday. He later dropped out of school in the 11^th grade because he couldn't sit in the class room all day anymore so he could work and in his free time go down to the beach and surf. He became very good at surfing, but was still not invited to the Duke competition because no Native Hawaiians were thought to be good at surfing anymore. The Duke saw him surfing one day and noticed how good he was at it, and asked why he wasn't invited to the competition, so the next year he was. He placed 6^th place in the 1966 Duke and Native Hawaiians were very proud. He continued to go back to the Duke and came very close to winning many times which inspired Native Hawaiian surfers that they had a chance to do something big, including Eddie's younger brother Clide. Eddie really influenced many Native Hawaiians by persevering, and also showing non-natives that the Native Hawaiians were still there and could surf just as good and better as the non-natives could.

Americans coming into Hawaii didn't care about Hawaiians and treated them like they were unwanted. Americans patronized Native Hawaiians and would move them around for new hotels and buildings. Americans also began to take over the surfing industry, by putting only Americans in all the surfing movies and only inviting Americans to the Duke competition. Eddie Aikau became a huge part of changing that. He competed against them at the biggest surfing competition and brought a lot of the pride back to the Native Hawaiians that was destroyed by all the immigration from America and Australia  He showed people that the Natives still own the place and gained the respect of many people. He also showed the Natives that there was still some things they could be proud of even though non-natives were taking over the land. Eddie brought the pride back to his Native people by not only his surfing but with his character and by caring for others.

Eddie brought the pride back to his Native Hawaiians by risking his life for others and doing anything in his ability to save others. Eddie was the first lifeguard at Waimea Bay and attempted over 500 rescues and didn't lose one person. He would risk his life for anyone while he was on lifeguard duty no matter the race, age, religion, he didn't care. Once he saved 2 Australian surfers from being murdered by a group of angry Native Hawaiians by warning them ahead of time and calling a peace negotiation. But his biggest act of bravery happened while he was on the Hokule'a, which was a round trip voyage from the Tahitian chain to Hawaii and back, to retrace the ancient Polynesian migration. This voyage was very important to Eddie and other Native Hawaiians because it was there ancestral history. During the voyage the Hokule'a encountered a huge storm and capsized leaving the crew stranded in the middle of the ocean with no way of communicating with either island. Eddie bravely volunteered to paddle on a paddle board to go find help, and was never seen again. He meant so much to Hawaii and the largest air-sea search in Hawaiian history was launched in search of him. When the search was finally stopped a memorial was mounted for him at Waimea Bay Park in honor of how much he meant to his Hawaii. Eddie really connected his Hawaiian natives with new Hawaiian residences and influenced the Native Hawaiians.

Eddie Aikau brought pride back to Native Hawaiians through his surfing and great acts of bravery. He was loved by Hawaiians and was greatly missed after he wasn't found. Native Hawaiians will always remember what Eddie did and how he gave the Natives something to finally be proud of.

30 for 30 -This documentary really helped me tie all my information together and get a full understanding of his life and really how much he meant to his people. It had clips of him surfing and told many different stories that helped prove my point of Eddie being very influencial to Native Hawaiians.

Hawaii History - This website helped give me some background information on the history of Hawaii that helped explain what Eddie was going through with all the american immigration.
Hawaii Voyage - This website helped me get a lot more information on the Hokule'a voyage. It told me why it was luanched what was supposed to happen and what it meant to the people who were invited to ride on it.

Biography - This Biography helped me at the beginning of my research to get a quick overview of his life and major events that went on through his life including the Hokule'a.

Quiksilver -  This website helped me learn a lot about Eddies life not only for surfing but about his family and what he liked to do. This website gave a lot of visuals which helped me to understand it a lot better and mad it easy to navigate.