page_title: Kidnapping of Kalaniʻōpuʻu by James Cook
section_title: Death of Cook
hierarchical_section_title: Kidnapping of Kalaniʻōpuʻu by James Cook / Attempt to take the aliʻi nui hostage / Death of Cook
caption_attribution_description: English: Kealakekua Bay and the Village Kowroaa, 1779 ink wash and watercolor by John Webber, Honolulu Museum of Art&#160;&#160;Native nameHonolulu Museum of ArtLocationHonolulu, Hawaii, USACoordinates21°&#160;18′&#160;14″&#160;N, 157°&#160;50′&#160;54″&#160;W&#160; &#160;Established1922Websitehonolulumuseum.orgAuthority control VIAF: 297612039 ISNI: 0000 0004 4661 5836 SUDOC: 185174566
context_page_description: Captain James Cook's 1779 attempted kidnapping of Kalaniʻōpuʻu, the ruling chief of the island of Hawaii and the decision to hold him in exchange for a stolen long boat was the fatal error of Cook's final voyage, and ultimately led to his death.
  Cook's arrival in Hawaii was followed by mass migrations of Europeans and Americans to the islands that gave rise to the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii, the aboriginal monarchy of the islands, beginning in 1893.
context_section_description: Cook's men and the British Marines were confronted on the beach by an elderly kahuna who approached them holding a coconut and chanting. They yelled at the priest to go away, but he kept approaching them while singing the mele. When Cook and his men looked away from the old kahuna, they saw that the beach was now filled with thousands of Native Hawaiians. Cook yelled at Kalaniʻōpuʻu to get up but the ruler refused. As the townspeople began to gather around them, Cook and his men began to back away from the crowd and raise their guns. The two chiefs and Kānekapōlei shielded the aliʻi nui as Cook tried to force him to his feet. Kanaʻina approached Cook, who reacted by striking the chief with the broad side of his sword. Kanaʻina instantly grabbed Cook and lifted the man. Some accounts state that Kanaʻina did not intend to hit Cook while other descriptions say the chief struck the navigator across the head with his leiomano. Either way, Kanaʻina released Cook, who fell to the sand. As Cook tried to get up, Nuaa fatally stabbed him with a metal dagger, obtained by trade from Cook's ship during the same visit. Cook fell with his face in the water. This caused a close-quarters melee between the townspeople and Cook's companions. Four of the Royal Marines (Corporal James Thomas and Privates Theophilus Hinks, Thomas Fachett, and John Allen) were killed and two were wounded. The remaining sailors and marines fired as they fled to their small boat and rowed back to their ship, injuring and killing dozens of Native Hawaiians on the beach, including possibly High Chief Kanaʻina. Cook's ships did not leave Kealakekua bay until 22 February. They remained for another week to continue repair of the mast and collect better quality drinking water. According to John Ledyard's journals, hundreds of natives were shot in a series of ongoing skirmishes. The ships cannon was used on several occasions against the natives, and a large portion of Kireekakooa, the southern town on the bay, was burned. 
  A young William Bligh, the future captain of HMS Bounty, later claimed to have been watching with a spyglass from Resolution as Cook's body was dragged up the hill to the town where it was torn to pieces. In fact, Cook's remains were treated differently: the high esteem in which the islanders held Cook caused them to retain his body. Following their practice of the time, they prepared his body with funerary rituals usually reserved for the chiefs and highest elders of the society. The body was disembowelled, baked to facilitate removal of the flesh, and the bones were carefully cleaned for preservation as religious icons. Some of Cook's remains, thus preserved, were eventually returned to his crew for a formal burial at sea.
caption: Kaʻawaloa in 1779 by John Webber, artist aboard Cook's ship
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