Captain Cook statue in Gisborne repeatedly defaced

Monday, 1 August 2016

One of the vandalised statues in Gisborne, close to where Cook first landed in 1769.

A statue of Captain Cook in Gisborne has been repeatedly defaced with red paint, sparking a vigorous debate about the legacy of colonialism in New Zealand.

The statue at Cook Plaza on Kaiti Hill has been vandalised, while another statue at The Cut has also been targeted.

In each attack, Cook's face and crotch are painted blood red.

Many are now calling for the Kaiti Hill statue, which is an inaccurate rendering based on an Italian navigator, to be replaced with either a more detailed rendition, a statue of Maori chief Raikaitane, or both.

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The Gisborne District Council asked for anyone with information on the vandals to pass it on to them or the police.

'Seriously this is getting out of hand now guys, its wasting time and resources at the expense of our community,' the council posted on Facebook.

'We know this has sparked a lot of good public discussion on artwork that represents our history and we appreciate everyone who's shared their opinion.'

The council budgets an annual $34,000 and employs a fulltime staff-member to keep graffiti and vandalism under control. It is not clear how much each clean-up costs.

Both of the Cook statues sit at significant historic sites.

Kaiti Beach in Gisborne was where the British explorer first landed on the Endeavour in 1769. Cook was hired by the British admiralty with the goal of expanding the empire. His first encounter with local Maori, who had inhabited the area since at least the 1400s, was not far from the statue at The Cut.

While Cook has never been accused of the kind of crimes that haunt the memory of fellow European explorer Christopher Columbus, historians provide his opponents with plenty of ammunition.

Cook's crew are said to have killed several Maori on his first voyage, and Cook was killed himself after apparently attempting to kidnap the king of Hawaii.

His voyage also led to the European colonisation of New Zealand, a process which resulted in decades of death, disease, and cultural degradation of the Maori people.

As such, Maori views on Cook are somewhat mixed.

The Kaiti Hill statue sits on Ngati Oneone land. Spokesperson Nick Tupara told The Gisborne Herald they had lobbied for the statue to be replaced by a representation of Rakaiatane for years, ever since the statue was installed on the 1969 bicentenary of Cook's arrival. Raikaitane was the chief at the time.

'We never supported it being put there at the time it was erected and I do not think the community has ever developed a closeness to it, which has led to anxieties about having it there,' he told the Herald.

Tupara said the statue had been vandalised many times over the years. He said the more accurate statue of Cook at The Cut deserved its place - both figures were needed to represent New Zealand's biculturalism.

'Having those two physical elements in prominent places would mean there would be a historical connection there. You would be able to incorporate the other half of the story and we could begin to talk about our shared heritage,' he said.

Local teacher Tina Ngata from Ngāti Porou wanted both statues gone.

'I don't agree with any celebration or memorial to Captain Cook. If I were to tell you a story of someone who went up to another vehicle, decided he liked it, then when the other people tried to escape the vehicle shot and killed them - would you want me to put up a statue to them? No.'

'Yet this is exactly what Cook did in the Endeavour. He shot and killed Maori onshore as well.'

Ngata said Cook's voyage was an invasion, and the non-Maori version of history had already been told elsewhere.

'There have been plenty of platforms throughout the last hundred years for the non-Maori version of events, for a non-Maori perspective.'

'Having both [statues] is not a dual heritage, it's not biculturalism. Our ancestors didn't invade England and kill the English.'

'It's not biculturalism, it's imperialism.'

In an editorial in the Gisborne Herald, local man Gordon Webb defended the Kaiti Hill statue.

'Cook's arrival near the mouth of the Turanganui River in 1769 marks the end of an era in which New Zealand was completely cut off from the outside world. The Maori people suddenly had to face off with the European technological world and their history changed irreversibly since then,' he wrote.

'It is proper that we recognise when and where these cultures came into contact. The present statue is part of that recognition.'