Kidnapping of Kalaniʻōpuʻu by Captain James Cook
HMS Resolution and HMS Discovery
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| Date | February 14, 1779 |
|---|---|
| Location | Hawaii |
| Type | Kidnapping |
| Cause | A stolen long boat |
| Participants | Kalaniʻōpuʻu, Captain James Cook |
| Captain James Cook | |
| Deaths | 5 |
| Non-fatal injuries | 2 |
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 (lifeboat) led to Cook's death.
Cook's arrival in Hawaii was followed by mass migrations of Europeans and Americans to the islands that ended with the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii, the original native monarchy of the islands.
James Cook led three separate voyages to chart unknown areas of the globe for the British Empire. It was on his third and final voyage that he encountered what is known today as the Islands of Hawaii. He first sighted the islands on 18 January 1778. He anchored off the west coast of the island of Kauai near Waimea and met inhabitants to trade and obtain water and food. On 2 February 1778, Cook continued on to the coast of North America and Alaska searching for a Northwest Passage for approximately nine months. He returned to the island chain to resupply, initially exploring the coasts of Maui and the big island and trading with locals, then making anchor in Kealakekua Bay in January 1779. After Cook departed Kealakekua, he was forced to return in mid-February 1779 after a ship's mast broke in bad weather. He was initially greeted with honour, as his arrival coincided with the Makahiki, a festival celebrating the yearly harvest while worshipping the Hawaiian deity Lono. However, after he and the crews of both ships, HMS Resolution and HMS Discovery, left the islands, the festival season had ended and the season for battle and war had begun under the worship and rituals for Kūkaʻilimoku, the god of war. On the night of 13 February, while anchored in Kealakekua Bay, one of only two long boats (lifeboats used to ferry to/from ship/shore) was stolen by the Hawaiians, testing the foreigners' reaction to see how far they could go with such a significant loss. The Hawaiians had begun openly challenging the foreigners. In retaliation, Cook tried to kidnap the aliʻi nui of the island of Hawaii, Kalaniʻōpuʻu. Being quite sick and ill tempered, Cook made what were later described as mistakes. The idea or suggestion that the Native Hawaiians considered Cook to be the God Lono himself is considered to be inaccurate and is attributed to William Bligh. It is possible that some Hawaiians may have used the name of Lono as a metaphor when describing Cook or other possible explanations other than Hawaiians mistaking the explorer for their own deity.
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