Is it true that the natives ate Cook?

The English navigator and researcher James Cook died in 1779 in Hawaii. We checked whether he became a victim of cannibals.

James Cook is one of the most famous travelers of the XVIII century, who visited various points in the oceans. Thanks to Cook, instead of white spots, the outlines of the Atlantic coast of Canada, Australia and New Zealand appeared on the maps, people began to know more about the islands of the Pacific and Indian Oceans. The researcher went three times on a trip around the world, but could not return from the latter. In the post -Soviet space, the death of Cook is probably the most famous fact of his life, and all thanks song Vladimir Vysotsky. Although the author warned that the composition is comic, many remembered: “Well, why did the natives ate Cook? For what is unclear, science is silent. ” However, the Royal Naval Museum also cites this version, telling Visitors to their site about James Cook.

Although text Vysotsky does not even pretend to be documentary, in the song the natives eat Cook in Australia. The sailor is really I visited There, during his first round -the -trip in 1768-1771, but he died several years later in Hawaii. Cook for the first time Arrived In the beginning of 1778, he went to the archipelago, then went to the shores of North America and returned a few months later. Exploring the islands in January 1779, the sailor met local residents, and at first the relations of the British with the natives were quite successful and mutually beneficial. The Europeans had to get acquainted with the celebration of the Hawaiian New Year, which was traditionally considered non -universe.

Subsequently Cook from time to time Returned On the islands to replenish the reserves of water and provisions, but the celebration ended and the season of wars began. However, this had only a symbolic meaning, which was more important than the tension appeared in relations with local stress. The American traveler John Ledyard, who accompanied Cook on the expedition, recalled that he proposed to exchange axes for wood from which a fence of a local temple was made. Having received a refusal, Cook ordered to pick up the boards by force. Later, according to Ledyard's memoirs, the British sailor accused one of the Hawaiian leaders of theft of a boat, although later the boat was found.

On February 6, 1779, the Cook's expedition left the coast of the Hawaiian Islands, but five days later returned from behind the storm. After the natives stole the boat (this time successfully), Cook tried to take the local leader to his ship, but the attempt failed. On the beach, hundreds of natives caught up a small group of the British, and a brawl ensued, during which the traveler was stabbed. Four of his colleagues also died, the rest were able to sit in the boat and sail away to the ships. Over the next few days, sailors arranged sorties on the island for drinking water and food, during which hundreds of Hawaiians were shot dead and even one settlement was burned.

Eyewitnesses recalled that after the battle the Aborigines took the Cook’s body from the beach to their settlement. What happened there with a corpse is unknown, but a few days later the British were handed over a bag with the remains, which are the versions diverge. Researchers MarkWhat to rely on the testimonies of contemporaries is inappropriate, because, firstly, they were biased and, secondly, many memories were compiled years after the events in that bay. In addition, if you believe in the version of cannibals, a logical question arises: why did the head of the expedition eat out of five victims (Cook and four more British)?

The main version that modern historians and anthropologists adhere to is that cannibalism was not widespread in Hawaii in the second half of the 19th century. For example, Vanessa Collingridge, author Books And documentary About James Cook, he believes that the same ritual as with the local leaders was made with the traveler’s body: he was gutted and baked so that it was later easier to separate the flesh from the bones, which then cleansed and used for religious purposes. According to the local Belief, it was in the bones that the spiritual essence of man was contained, and the remains of Cook were worshiped in Hawaiian villages.

Apparently, not all these facts were known to British sailors, so they interpreted them in their own way and accused Hawaiian Aborigines of cannibalism. In Soviet culture, this myth was transformed into the song of Vysotsky, and in the West two centuries later generated one of the important discussions In anthropology of the late XX century. Understanding the circumstances of the death of the British navigator, American researchers Marshall Salins and Gananate Okhisker argued about whether the natives of the natives could be understood, based on Western rationality.

Legend

What do our verdicts mean?

Read on the topic:

1. https://www.captaincooksociety.com/home/detail/AFTERMATH
2. Vanessa Collingridge, Captain Cook: The Life, Death and Legacy of History's Greatest Explorer
3. https://www.rmg.co.uk/explore/blog/culture-clash-and-cannibalism-voyages-captain- Cook
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/sahlins-obeyesekere_debate