Samoa isn’t typically known for surfing, but local Jay says he’s keeping this ancient sport alive — encouraging the next generation in his village to feel at home in the ocean, and keeping his own mind healthy along the way. “Maybe I try to do something different … maybe go back to the old ways,” he told ABC Pacific. Story by Dinah Lewis Boucher and Baro Lee. | ABC Pacific

When people outside the Pacific think of surfing, they might picture branded board shorts, beachy guitar riffs, or sun-bleached hair. That's the version that's been packaged up and sold across the world. But what's often left out is the origins of surfing, says Dr Isaiah Helekunihi Walker, former pro surfer turned historian and academic. In Hawai’i, it's called he'enalu. And it's a way of life that connected people to the ocean. Listen to full Culture Compass episode: https://www.abc.net.au/paci