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This clip features an interview with Amber Mercy, an Indigenous Australian surfer, who talks about her participation in Indigenous surfing competitions held in South Pacific nations. The interview is illustrated and intercut with home video footage from her travels to competitions, footage of surfers competing and relaxing at dances, and photographs. The clip ends with images of surfers in action and music that combines the Indigenous and surfing themes.

Educational value points

• Like the documentary Surfing the Healing Wave (1999), this clip from Us Deadly Mob (2005) emphasises communality and connection rather than competition. Surfer Amber Mercy describes Indigenous surfing competitions as ‘sharing waves and laughing’, and the competitors as being ‘so happy the … cultures are together’. Images focus on companionship as well as on surfing and Mercy hints at the contrast with the more competitive culture of mainstream surfing.

• Amber Mercy refers to surfing competitions that now include Indigenous surfers from all over the South Pacific. The first Indigenous surfing competition was held in 1993 at Wreck Bay in New South Wales. Since then the annual Billabong Indigenous Surf Classic has begun and includes Indigenous competitors from South Pacific nations. The Quiksilver Oceania Cup for Indigenous surfers is hosted by a different South Pacific nation each year.

• The link between Indigenous peoples of the South Pacific and the sport of surfing is a strong one. The origins of surfing are firmly based in Polynesian culture – surfing was perfected, if not invented, in Hawaii. A Hawaiian, Duke Paoa Kahanamoku, first demonstrated surfboard riding to Australia in 1915.

• Amber Mercy comes from a celebrated surfing family and surfing has always been part of her life. She first tried to surf at the age of 3 on her father’s surfboard. At the age of 13 surfing became a serious sport for her when she joined a Sports Excellence Program at her secondary school on the Gold Coast in Queensland. She has travelled extensively to compete in her chosen sport. She regrets the lack of recognition that Indigenous surfing receives in Australia.

• Few Indigenous surfers achieved national or international success in the sport until 2007 when Dale Richards (1988–) became the first Indigenous Australian surfer to compete in a World Championships Tour event on the Association of Surfing Professionals calendar. There are now Indigenous surfing associations and competitions in most states.

• The academic and filmmaker Samia Goudie (1960–), a member of the Bundjalung Mununjali clan, wrote and produced Us Deadly Mob. In 2006 she was awarded the prestigious Fulbright Postgraduate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Award. She has used the Fellowship to study in the USA and plans to produce a documentary training film exploring recovery from intergenerational trauma among Indigenous communities in the USA and Australia.

Interview with Amber Mercy on a beach, with images of surfers and beach scenes and locals.

Amber Mercy It’s been so amazing to be a, you know, part of what the competitions are about over in the islands and stuff. In 2000, I was lucky enough to be selected on the team. It’s just so cool to go out and surf, and everyone’s just happy and so happy the different cultures are together and it’s a very fun time. We’ve had a blast over the years. I’ve been about four or five times now so. And you make connections, dancing and … Lots of dancing! and, um, yeah, it’s just a good competition. And there’s a high level of surfing. That’s what a lot of people don’t realise – the level of surfing that actually takes place on these competitions. We have a lot of juniors at the moment, though, coming up, that are going to … going to make it big. We just sort of just don’t have the support. You know, you go, I’ve been to Fiji and Tonga and lots of small places where they’ve got so much backing just from basically the whole island and everyone’s into it, but here, it’s just like, you just really struggle. We have had very little support from mainstream. It’s really sad, actually, the amount of support we don’t have. It is weird, definitely weird going to other countries and people get more stoked on seeing an Aboriginal surfer when I’ve been to Tonga and when I’ve been to Fiji and stuff like that. There’s a lot of respect out in the water, especially amongst the Indigenous people. Everyone keeps an eye out for each other and it’s not sort of like this big competition. It’s just a lot of fun. Lot of sharing waves and laughing. Lots and lots of laughing!