Cook out of his box
A statue of Captain James Cook will remain standing in a Rangitı¯kei town, after its future was called into question by a reignited debate on the glorification of European colonial figures.
The statue in Marton was last week placed in a protective box when police warned the Rangitı¯kei District Council it could be attacked.
Statues representing figures from the colonial or slavery eras around the world have been pulled down, defaced and removed as the Black Lives Matter movement gains momentum after the killing of George Floyd by an American police officer.
The council considered removing the statue of Cook, erected about 15 years ago, but this week decided instead to take the box away after consultation with local iwi, Te Ru¯nanga o Nga¯ Wairiki Nga¯ti Apa.
Mayor Andy Watson said the threat against the statue sparked debate on social media and messages to the council. The majority of Marton residents were in favour of keeping the statue.
There was still a wider discussion to be had, and the council and iwi were working together to develop a public campaign to highlight and honour Rangitı¯kei’s Ma¯ori and European heritage on an equal footing, he said.
Nga¯ti Apa chairman Pahia Turia said removing the statue achieved nothing and it was better to put it in its full historical context.
‘‘Our iwi ru¯nanga believes that it doesn’t address the fact that communities in New Zealand do not have an adequate understanding of our shared Ma¯ori and European history.’’
The statue’s plaque labelling Cook the ‘‘discoverer of New Zealand’’ will be changed to reflect the fact Ma¯ori settled New Zealand long before the English navigator arrived in 1769.
Councillor Richard Lambert pointed out it was still inaccurate even if the context was limited to European explorers – Abel Tasman beat Cook to the punch by more than 100 years.
Cr Tracey Hiroa said New Zealand had a dual history from two overlapping cultural worlds and people of both should expect consideration but also respect how the other chose to express their history.
‘‘[The statue] is the kaupapa and history of one set of people. It’s not my kaupapa... It doesn’t affect me.’’ Marton is named after Cook’s birthplace, Marton-in-cleveland, in England, so he was connected to the town’s history even though he never set foot in Rangitı¯kei.
But Hiroa wished the Ma¯ori perspective of Rangitı¯kei’s history was better known. Ma¯oridom’s viewpoints still often played second fiddle to Eurocentric histories in the education system, she said.
‘‘As Ma¯ori, we sit in the background too much. We don’t push ourselves forward and when we do we’re seen as radicals.’’
Cr Angus Gordon said deciding if such statues were offensive was an important discussion to have with iwi and the wider public.
But many people on both sides of the debate had shown large gaps in their historical knowledge
The council had a duty to help the public get better informed and had good resources at its disposal to do so, he said.
‘‘We have a wealth of wellwritten history, from both Ma¯ori and Pa¯keha¯ perspectives, on Captain Cook and our region. We should be sharing that.’’