This day In History...Cook "discovers" Hawaii

Got this from the History Chanel web site yesterday and forgot to post link, so here's a copy of the article. Pretty interesting stuff if you've got a few seconds to read it, and if you want to see what happened Today (or on your bithday, or whenever) here's the link:
http://www.historychannel.com/tdih/tdih.jsp?category=leadstory

Now, on with Cook's wacky story, for those who dont know it...

On January 18, 1778, the English explorer Captain James Cook becomes the first European to discover the Hawaiian Islands when he sails past the island of Oahu. Two days later, he landed at Waimea on the island of Kauai and named the island group the Sandwich Islands, in honor of John Montague, who was the earl of Sandwich and one his patrons.

In 1768, Cook, a surveyor in the Royal Navy, was commissioned a lieutenant in command of the H.M.S. Endeavor and led an expedition that took scientists to Tahiti to chart the course of the planet Venus. In 1771, he returned to England, having explored the coast of New Zealand and Australia and circumnavigated the globe. Beginning in 1772, he commanded a major mission to the South Pacific and during the next three years explored the Antarctic region, charted the New Hebrides, and discovered New Caledonia. In 1776, he sailed from England again as commander of the H.M.S. Resolution and Discovery and in 1778 made his first visit to the Hawaiian Islands.

Cook and his crew were welcomed by the Hawaiians, who were fascinated by the Europeans' ships and their use of iron. Cook provisioned his ships by trading the metal, and his sailors traded iron nails for sex. The ships then made a brief stop at Ni'ihau and headed north to look for the western end of a northwest passage from the North Atlantic to the Pacific. Almost one year later, Cook's two ships returned to the Hawaiian Islands and found a safe harbor in Hawaii's Kealakekua Bay.

It is suspected that the Hawaiians attached religious significance to the first stay of the Europeans on their islands. In Cook's second visit, there was no question of this phenomenon. Kealakekua Bay was considered the sacred harbor of Lono, the fertility god of the Hawaiians, and at the time of Cook's arrival the locals were engaged in a festival dedicated to Lono. Cook and his compatriots were welcomed as gods and for the next month exploited the Hawaiians' good will. After one of the crewmembers died, exposing the Europeans as mere mortals, relations became strained. On February 4, 1779, the British ships sailed from Kealakekua Bay, but rough seas damaged the foremast of the Resolution, and after only a week at sea the expedition was forced to return to Hawaii.

The Hawaiians greeted Cook and his men by hurling rocks; they then stole a small cutter vessel from the Discovery. Negotiations with King Kalaniopuu for the return of the cutter collapsed after a lesser Hawaiian chief was shot to death and a mob of Hawaiians descended on Cook's party. The captain and his men fired on the angry Hawaiians, but they were soon overwhelmed, and only a few managed to escape to the safety of the Resolution. Captain Cook himself was killed by the mob. A few days later, the Englishmen retaliated by firing their cannons and muskets at the shore, killing some 30 Hawaiians. The Resolution and Discovery eventually returned to England.

My favorite part of the story is when Cook's men later asked for his body back, and all they got back were a few bones, some of which had teeth marks in them!

Hunter S. Thompson gives an interesting account and personal spin on this story in his book "Curse of Lono"

Took me like a year to find a copy of that book (pre-ebay days). Still one of my favorites. (along with Steadman's take on Alice in Wonderland...very cool)

Taschen is reissuing Curso of Lono this summer in a De Luxe edition.... for $200 (Amazon already has it for $126).

$200?!?!?!?! Sheesh! thats VERY De-Luxe! Only 1000 copies, and hand signed....tempting...but a liitle pricey. Thanks for the heads up!

Who suffered the "curse of Lono," Cpt. Cook and his crew or the Hawaiians?

On 2005-01-19 19:46, christiki295 wrote:
Who suffered the "curse of Lono," Cpt. Cook and his crew or the Hawaiians?

I think it was Mr Thompson that suffered the curse. Or maybe it was Ralph. I've got the book around here somewhere in a box with some old yearbooks. Did the Samoan attorney appear in this one?

More on the death of Cpt. Cook:

Leaving Hawai'i, Cook's ships ran into bad weather and one lost her foremast, forcing the crew to return to Kealakekua Bay. The bay was deserted because the area was under kapu, although Cook persuaded the natives to begin repairs and reestablish the observatory. Trading resumed, and the relationship between the islanders and the English appeared unchanged. However, before long several disquieting events occurred. First, sailors aboard the Discovery opened fire on natives escaping from the ship with stolen goods. Then, intending to teach the Hawaiians a lesson, the sailing master of the Resolution seized a canoe belonging to an important ali'i, who was injured in the conflict. The natives retaliated for these attacks, smashing the boats and equipment and beating several sailors. Deciding to put an end to the problem, Cook armed his men, blockaded the bay, and fired upon one of the canoes, killing an important chief. Meanwhile, Cook led an armed party ashore to seize Chief Kalani'opu'u as a hostage. But he and a small group of sailors were surrounded at the beach, and Cook was clubbed to death in the ensuing conflict. A day and night of retaliation by both sides ended with complete destruction of the village despite continued pleas for peace by the native priests. [11]

There are a number of possible reasons why the Hawaiians turned on Cook, a mortal whom they had elevated to god-like status. The Europeans had desecrated the nearby heiau and its images of Lono and had used the structure to house their sick and as a burial place for their dead. Also, the tremendous amounts of food, fuel, and water taken aboard the ships had been a heavy drain on Hawaiian resources. The refusal to fully share their prized iron goods with the Hawaiians may also have caused animosity. Cook also seemed to expect subservience, intending finally to force submission of the Hawaiians by taking their high chief Kalani'opu'u hostage. By encouraging the natives to break the kapu on Kealakekua Bay, Cook had directly challenged the authority of the chiefs. One author suggests that when the women began to visit the ships in great numbers, their husbands grew jealous "and began to distrust these new divinities." [12] Others suggest that the fact that the sailors slept with the women of the islands proved they were foreigners (haoles). [13] The return of the English ships to Kealakekua Bay to repair a broken mast shortly after their triumphant exit only served to illustrate their fallibility; Cook's death in battle finally proved to the Hawaiians that they were mere mortals. Cook's ignorance of Hawaiian customs probably contributed in large part to his death, he and his men failing to grasp the intricate relationship between politics and religion in the Hawaiian culture. Even though Cook recognized the extraordinary homage and honor accorded him, he failed to correct the Hawaiians "misimpression of his identity, allowing himself to be addressed and treated as their god." [14]

Eventually a fragile truce took place between the Hawaiians and the English. Parts of Cook's body (which had been partially dismembered and burned) were recovered, along with some of his belongings, and his bones were interred in the bay. It should be noted that the priests had treated Cook's body and personal effects in the same manner and with the same reverence they accorded their own chiefs. [15] The Englishmen quickly took on water and supplies and completed the repairs to their ship. On the evening of February 22,1779, eight days after Cook's death, the Disco very and the Resolution sailed out of Kealakekua Bay, leaving behind the lovely islands that had claimed the life of their captain. Despite Cook's death, these voyages successfully explored great reaches of the Pacific and opened the door for future expeditions from England, France, Spain, and Russia. For years after Cook's death, Hawaiians held ambivalent feelings about him, inquiring of other sea captains whether Cook would ever return and questioning whether Cook had, in revenge, sent the Spaniards to make them slaves and take their country. The natives were especially concerned about how long Cook would stay hostile towards them, blaming his anger for volcanic eruptions in Hawai'i.

http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/kona/history2.htm

Others suggest that the fact that the sailors slept with the women of the islands proved they were foreigners (haoles).

I read something over just recently that explained that the term "haole" in the ancient Hawaiian dialects meant "without breath" . When the Hawaiians first saw Cook and his crew, that is how they described them: looking as though they were "dead". Thus, the term was forever associated with non-Polynesian "white people" ...

Here's a good link about it:

http://www.pantheon.org/articles/h/haole.html

[ Edited by: MaiTaiMafia on 2005-01-20 01:08 ]

William Bligh

[ Edited by: filslash 2008-09-13 11:46 ]

A few years earlier than the Lono business, in 1774 Cook and his men landed on Rapa Nui (Easter Island). According to Heyderdahl's account in Aku Aku, the only natives they encountered were a few old grizzled folks. There were no "women" to be found, although Cook and his men searched the island "thoroughly."

(they were all hiding underground).

As for the meaning of "haole", doesn't the chinese word bok guoy (?) for "white folk" mean "white ghost"?

I'm noticing a trend... or perhaps I've been watching too many zombie movies lately.

"They're comming to get you , barbara"

On 2005-01-19 13:52, Bargoyle wrote:
$200?!?!?!?! Sheesh! thats VERY De-Luxe! Only 1000 copies, and hand signed....tempting...but a liitle pricey. Thanks for the heads up!

Signed by who? HST and Ralph?
$200 eh? Hmmmmm.....

Trader Woody
edit Aye - signed by both, but while Amazon.com has it at 30% off, it's only 10% off at Amazon.co.uk - the swine!

[ Edited by: Trader Woody on 2005-01-20 14:06 ]