By Phil Jarratt
Last week’s Noosa Festival of Surfing saw some inspired performances from many local surfers, but few could match the amazing Smales brothers, 14-year-old Landen and 17-year-old Kaiden, who sailed through their junior divisions undefeated, to add the Under 15 and Under 18 trophies to the groaning weight on the cabinet at home.
Says proud mum Natalie: “Kaiden and Landen are currently ranked first and second in Queensland in the Under 18 men’s longboard, and Landen is also number two in Queensland on the shortboard. Landen is also the reigning Australian champion under 18 Logger and current state champion. At 12 he was the youngest ever to win an Australian title back in 2019. In August they will represent Queensland at the Australian Longboard titles at Port Macquarie.”
Oddly enough, as impressive as these results are, what most excited these well-mannered teenage boys when Noosa Today caught up with them at the festival was the opportunity to talk about their recent experiences helping teach young Indigenous children how to ride a surfboard. Says Kaiden: “Through a program called Dingira Warrai, which means dancing on waves, we got to work with Kristy and Hayden from SurfDancer coaching young Kabi Kabi kids. Kabi Kabi storyteller Lyndon Davis came to the coaching sessions a few times and he created such an awesome connection to the land and the ocean. He was telling us the story of how Noosa Head was made, and suddenly this amazing rainbow appears while he’s dancing around. It was magical. But just being able to teach the kids how to surf and see the smile on their faces was magical too.”
An excited Landen adds: “We were running around doing high fives and stuff every time they stood up on a wave, it was awesome.”
Teaching Kabi Kabi children to surf is not just some random act of kindness. It is the embodiment of a cultural and blood connection that is quite new to the Smales boys and has begun to change their young lives in significant ways. As you read this, both Kaiden and Landen will be competing on longboard and shortboard on Wadawurrung Country at Bells Beach, Victoria for the first time in the Australian Indigenous Surfing Championships.
Dad Brent takes up the story: “The issue of our bloodline from my side has been tucked away in the family for a long time. It goes back to my childhood when my grandfather would say about me things like, that’s the Aboriginal in that boy! Occasionally in our family things would come up that made the kids start to ask questions, so I began looking into it a bit more over the last few years.
“Two years ago when Landen was in Western Australia for the Aussie titles, Natalie was able to do some investigation and made a connection with the local Noongar and Bandjalung people. Basically, we found out that my ancestors were from the Margaret River area. I’m not sure how many greats you have to go back, but a great grandmother of mine was the first half-caste baby born on a mission in Perth in the late 1800s. She and her young mother were put on one of two boats that set sail for Melbourne but only one boat made it. They were sent to do farm work and as time went on the daughter was allowed to work inside because she was of a lighter skin colour.
“She adopted the name Williams, probably because it was the name of the farm owner. But later when she was married she wasn’t allowed in the church, only the garden next to it. That’s noted on the marriage certificate, but nothing says she’s Aboriginal. The elders who recognised our evidence for identifying said that this was a familiar story back then.
“It’s funny because it all begins to fit together: Landen is always out in the mangroves hunting and fishing and just exploring, while Kaiden is a storyteller. And they both have this great love of land and sea.”
Says Kaiden: When I found out about (their bloodline) I felt really proud, because I’ve always loved learning about Indigenous Australia, what it was like here before settlement and how the people lived. To be able to identify and now represent as Indigenous is just amazing. It’s awesome for me and Landen to be considered up-and-coming Indigenous surfers and to build connections with other surfers. We want to be role models for our generation.”
While their Indigenous identity has become a major focus, the boys are also deeply involved in every facet of the surfing lifestyle. Kaiden is competing in some novelty and retro shortboard events, but is primarily focused on getting good results in longboard surfing. He says: “Everything’s just clicked for me and Landen over the past year or so. We’ve had some really good results and we’re stoked that we’re able to show everyone how we can surf.”
Says Landen: “I feel the same. I’ve been surfing good on a shortboard for most of my life but lately I’ve started to do well in the longboard comps too. So I’m going to just keep trying to do better at both.” If he can stay still for long enough. Now in Victoria for the Indigenous comp, the week before the Noosa festival Landen was in Margaret River on a sponsor trip, where he not only got to surf on country but turned heads at The Box, fearlessly tackling big waves at the dangerous slab that has brought many world champions undone.
Naturally, the sponsor’s list is long and growing, ranging from local Andrew Warhurst Fine Surfcraft who looks after both boys for longboards, to major surfwear companies like Reef and Quiksilver, who picked up Landen when he was nine, evoking memories of super-grom Julian Wilson.
Kaiden has also been helping on the editing process for a short film about the Dingira Warrai children’s wellness program and its surfing connection, which will premier next week at Tewantin Primary School.
