Tag: Featured

In June 2021, after a day of boating on North Carolina’s Lake Waccamaw, three 13-year-old boys were playing in the water when they stumbled upon what would prove to be a nearly 1,000-year-old Native American canoe. Almost two years later, the canoe was finally excavated from the lake, and following preservation of the artifact, it will be returned to members of the Waccamaw Siouan tribe.

According to an on-camera interview conducted by local North Carolina outlet The News Reporter, Eli Hill, Jackson Holcomb, and Creek Hyatt first found the 28-foot-long canoe after spending the afternoon tubing with Hill’s father, Jess. 

Jess, who works as the Columbus County Clerk of Court, shared that he had taken Eli, Jackson, and Creek to go boating on the lake one Sunday, pulling the boys behind his boat in inner tubes. When they finished and Jess went to dock the boat, the boys hopped out to play in the water. The trio stumbled upon what they initially believed was a log, Eli told WECT, but after working to dig up the object with some help from his father the following day, it soon became evident that their discovery was in fact much more significant.

Soon after, the Hill family contacted the North Carolina Office of State Archaeology, and officials arrived by that Tuesday with scuba gear to investigate the discovery. Members of the archaeological team then scheduled a second visit, during which they excavated the canoe from its original location and moved it to a safe, secondary location. Radiocarbon dating was used to determine the approximate age of the canoe. According to the North Carolina American Indian Heritage Commission, the historic vessel is approximately 930 years old.

More time was still needed to prepare for the canoe’s preservation. Finally,  on April 12, the excavation took place, with the Hills joining in to bring it out of the water.

Elizabeth Lara/ iStock

Waccamaw Siouan members observed the excavation while celebrating the discovery with songs and prayer. Per Columbus County News, after the relic is properly restored and preserved, it will be returned to the Waccamaw Siouan tribal grounds in Buckhead.

“That canoe at 28 feet long would have carried many a brave,” Chief Michael Jacobs told KTTC. “We feel like in our heart, it’s a history that we’re still exploring and understanding because this is the first time we’ve had access.”

“This canoe is about 1,000 years old,” added state archaeologist John Mintz. “It’s a southeastern Indian canoe that originated from this area, so we wanted the local Indian group to be part of it.”

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Jacobs further emphasized the significance of the find to the tribe. “We’re looking forward to examining it, running some tests on it, really finding out and going back to our elders and getting the history of it to where we can teach the truth to our people and know that we’ve got concrete evidence to stand on,” he explained, later adding, “Our history is still unfolding. When the colonists made contact with our tribe, there’s a lot of the things that we hailed as historical and meaningful to us that we’re still putting together.”

In his interview with The News Reporter, Eli described the adventure with his friends as “a cool experience” and expressed his gratitude to the Waccamaw Siouan tribe. “I’d just like to thank the tribe for coming out here and supporting us, and I’m glad we could return it to them.”

In 2021, The Wall Street Journal announced a polling partnership with the independent research organization NORC at the University of Chicago “to conduct surveys on cultural and social issues of importance.” The latest data to come out of that collaboration was gathered in March, and it offers some fascinating insight into how the happiest people in the United States live. 

Participants were asked about their feelings on issues like the economy and the importance of a college education, as well their levels of personal satisfaction. Of the 1,019 adults polled, 56% rated themselves “pretty happy,” while a much smaller group, just 12%, considered themselves “very happy.” 

Having a majority of Americans consider themselves “pretty happy” is great news, especially during turbulent times: the tail-end of a devastating pandemic, increased inflation, and what can often feel like a growing ideological divide. But what is it that these rarer respondents have in common? The answer isn’t vast wealth and perfect health. 

fotostorm/ iStock

A large majority of the 12% value strong relationships, WSJ reported in an April article elaborating on the poll’s data. Around 67% of them said that marriage is important to them, whether or not they were currently married themselves, according to the outlet, a figure over 20 percentage points higher than the overall response. 

Additionally, two-thirds of the “very happy” respondents described themselves as either very or moderately religious. They also value community involvement more than most, and though many of the group did say they were satisfied with their personal finances, “as a group, they don’t attach high importance to money,” WSJ wrote. They also shared a common interest in physical fitness, and 44% are age 60 or above. 

“We’re living on Social Security and a couple of small pensions. We live from month to month on that,” 76-year-old Mary Ann DePasquale from Keedysville, Maryland, a participant who rated herself “very happy,” told the publication. “But we don’t want for anything.”

Another interesting insight from the data: Neither Republicans nor Democrats claimed a “disproportionate share of the very happy.”

shapecharge/ iStock

While many of the 12% said in interviews that they believed their happy states of mind could be partially attributed to the choices they make, they also acknowledged that some of it is innate. And that theory holds weight. Research has identified a process known as “hedonic adaptation,” the idea that people return to a personal basepoint of happiness following both good and bad events. But that doesn’t mean we can’t take some control over our general levels of contentment — there are several science-backed ways to increase your personal happiness. 

Perhaps unsurprisingly, one of them is by building and maintaining friendships: According to a study cited by author Eric Barker in his book Plays Well with Others: The Surprising Science Behind Why Everything You Know About Relationships Is (Mostly) Wrong, people with five or more friends with whom they could discuss hardships were 60% happier than those with fewer than that number of confidants. 

Another great way to feel good? Being kind. Per the Mayo Clinic, “Kindness has been shown to increase self-esteem, empathy and compassion, and improve mood. It can decrease blood pressure and cortisol, a stress hormone, which directly impacts stress levels.”

Other methods of boosting your mood include practicing gratitude, establishing exercise routines, and setting achievable goals. Click here to read them all. 

Surf’s up for Seiichi Sano! At 88 years and 288 days old, Sano, who lives in Japan, set a Guinness World Record for the oldest person to catch a wave. 

“Holding the Guinness World Records certificate, I feel for the first time I have been acknowledged for something,” Sano told Guinness World Records in March of his accomplishment, which was verified on July 8, 2022. “Whether it be surfing or world record titles, it’s the can-do attitude that will get you there, not logic. Don’t complicate things. Just think that even this old grandpa’s done it — you should be able to achieve something as well!”

While Sano is a surf lover today, he didn’t discover the hobby until his golden years. 

He took up the sport in his eighties after conquering Mount Fuji, the highest mountain in Japan, seeking to embark on another adventure.

Sano was also inspired to try surfing after an interaction with a bank manager he worked with who had “really tanned skin.”

“I thought he may be a golfer, but when I asked him, he whispered to me, ‘I surf,’” said Sano. A few days later, he was in a wetsuit ready to take on the waves. 

Guinness World Records

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Surfing in one’s eighties might sound dangerous to some, but Sano feels safer on the waves than the roadway. “I had far more scary moments in a car than on a surfboard!” he said.

Plus, Sano doesn’t spend much time worrying about what other people think anyway.  

“I’ve been told I am a fool. But it didn’t bother me because I always thought people who say that kind of things are fools,” he said, “I’m not perfect, but not too bad either.”

This mentality of prioritizing the experience over perfection also applies to his outlook on surfing. Sano isn’t focused on mastering surfing skills or becoming a professional. Instead, he enjoys simply soaking in the view while sitting on his board and doing some tricks (his go-to move is the switch stance) — no matter how long he stays up. 

“I enjoy being swept up in the wave,” he told the Associated Press. “I am not a good surfer. So I call myself a ‘small-wave surfer’ — out of respect for those who surf well.”

In addition to being physically active, Sano remains active in his career, continuing to work a “9-to-5” workday at a business he runs.

There’s no question that, as the world’s oldest surfer, Sano is redefining what life can look like for older adults while reminding the world that exciting things can happen when we keep learning at every age.  

As for what’s next? Sano, who turns 90 on September 23, hopes to have many more waves — and maybe even some rocks — in his future. 

“I think it would be interesting to try to surf until I’m 100,” he told the AP, adding, “Maybe I’ll try bouldering.”

Seas the day, Sano! 

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