Editing James Cook (section)

===Controversy===
[[File:Hyde_Park Captain Cook.JPG|thumb
|alt=A bronze statue of Cook, mounted atop a large granite base
|[[Statue of James Cook, Hyde Park|Statue of James Cook]], Hyde Park, Sydney. The rear inscription reads: "Discovered this territory, 1770".]]
{{seealso|Indigenous response to colonialism}}

The period 2018 to 2021 marked the 250th anniversary of Cook's first voyage of exploration. Several countries, including Australia and New Zealand, arranged official events to commemorate the voyage,<ref>{{Cite web 
|title=250th Anniversary of Captain Cook's Voyage to Australia 
|url=https://www.arts.gov.au/what-we-do/cultural-heritage/250th-anniversary-captain-cooks-voyage-australia |access-date=15 March 2021 |website=Australian Government, Office for the Arts |archive-date=8 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308172046/https://www.arts.gov.au/what-we-do/cultural-heritage/250th-anniversary-captain-cooks-voyage-australia |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web 
|title=Tuia Enounters 250 |url=https://mch.govt.nz/tuia250 |access-date=15 March 2021 |archive-date=6 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210306135019/https://mch.govt.nz/tuia250 |url-status=live}}</ref> leading to widespread public debate about Cook's legacy and the violence associated with his contacts with Indigenous peoples.<ref name="Daley 2020">{{Cite web |last=Daley |first=Paul |date=29 April 2020
 |title=Commemorating Captain James Cook's Arrival, Australia Should Not Omit His Role in the Suffering That Followed
 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/postcolonial-blog/2020/apr/29/commemorating-james-cooks-arrival-australia-should-not-omit-his-role-in-the-suffering-that-followed
 |access-date=16 March 2021 
|website=The Guardian
 |archive-date=8 March 2021 
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308230636/https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/postcolonial-blog/2020/apr/29/commemorating-james-cooks-arrival-australia-should-not-omit-his-role-in-the-suffering-that-followed
 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web
 |last=Roy |first=Eleanor Ainge |date=8 October 2019 
|title=New Zealand Wrestles with 250th Anniversary of James Cook's Arrival |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/oct/08/new-zealand-wrestles-with-250th-anniversary-of-james-cooks-arrival 
|access-date=15 March 2021 
|website=The Guardian
 |archive-date=14 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414030255/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/oct/08/new-zealand-wrestles-with-250th-anniversary-of-james-cooks-arrival 
|url-status=live}}</ref> In the lead-up to the commemorations, various memorials to Cook in Australia and New Zealand were vandalised, and there were public calls for their removal or modification due to their alleged promotion of colonialist narratives.<ref>{{Cite web
 |date=23 August 2017
 |title=Australia Debates Captain Cook 'Discovery' Statue 
|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-41020363 
|access-date=15 March 2021 |website=BBC News |archive-date=14 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414030114/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-41020363 
|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web
 |date=13 June 2020 
|title=Captain James Cook Statue Defaced in Gisborne
 |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/captain-james-cook-statue-defaced-in-gisborne/RH3B2TD2CNMR6D2AP3QWSBX2F4/ 
|access-date=16 March 2021
 |website=[[The New Zealand Herald]]
 |archive-date=9 March 2021 
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210309004905/https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/captain-james-cook-statue-defaced-in-gisborne/RH3B2TD2CNMR6D2AP3QWSBX2F4/
 |url-status=live
}}</ref> There were also campaigns for the return of Indigenous artefacts taken during Cook's voyages.<ref>{{cite web 
|date=13 November 2020
 |title=Shots Fired 
|url=https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/stuff-the-british-stole/shots-fired/12868096 
|url-status=live 
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210307042709/https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/stuff-the-british-stole/shots-fired/12868096
 |archive-date=7 March 2021 
|access-date=12 March 2021
 |website=ABC Radio National
}}</ref>{{efn|An example of an artefact that has been the subject of requests for return is the [[Gweagal shield]].<ref>{{Cite journal
|last=Thomas
|first=Nicholas
|date=2018
|title=A Case of Identity: The Artifacts of the 1770 Kamay (Botany Bay) Encounter
|url=
|journal=Australian Historical Studies
|volume=49
|issue=1
 |pages=4–27
|issn=1031-461X
|doi=10.1080/1031461X.2017.1414862 
|via=Taylor and Francis Online
}}</ref>}} Attacks on public monuments to Cook continued in Canada and Australia.<ref>{{Cite web |date=3 July 2021 
|title=Capt. James Cook Statue Recovered from Victoria Harbour; What's Next is Undecided
 |url=https://www.timescolonist.com/news/local/capt-james-cook-statue-recovered-from-victoria-harbour-what-s-next-is-undecided-1.24337872 |url-status=live
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210703145332/https://www.timescolonist.com/news/local/capt-james-cook-statue-recovered-from-victoria-harbour-what-s-next-is-undecided-1.24337872 
|archive-date=3 July 2021
 |access-date=4 July 2021
 |website=Times Colonist}}</ref><ref>{{cite news
 |url=https://www.heraldsun.com.au/truecrimeaustralia/police-courts-victoria/captain-cook-statue-cut-down-on-eve-of-australia-day/news-story/aa6aa1f84cf25bc70dab5765d42a9031?amp&nk=89c859e6bc39eb7b8000c7309289cfd8-1706162324 
|last=Ellis 
|first=Fergus 
|title=Captain Cook Statue Cut Down on Eve of Australia Day, Vandals Brazenly Share Footage
 |work=Herald Sun
 |date=25 January 2024 |access-date=26 January 2024}}</ref><ref name="Sum 2024" /><ref>{{cite news |date=25 January 2024 
|title=Melbourne Statues of Queen Victoria and Captain Cook Vandalised on Australia Day Eve
 |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-01-25/melbourne-captain-cook-queen-victoria-statues-vandalised/103386996 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240125000119/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-01-25/melbourne-captain-cook-queen-victoria-statues-vandalised/103386996 |archive-date=25 January 2024 |access-date=25 January 2024 |work=[[ABC News Online]]}}</ref>

Alice Proctor argues that the controversies over public representations of Cook and the display of Indigenous artefacts from his voyages are part of a broader debate over the [[Indigenous decolonization|decolonisation]] of museums and public spaces and resistance to colonialist narratives.<ref name=AlProc>{{cite book |last=Proctor |first=Alice |title=The Whole Picture |publisher=Cassell |year=2020 |isbn=978-1-78840-155-5 |pages=243, 255–62}} Chapters 11 and 12 are most relevant to Cook.</ref> A number of commentators argue that Cook enabled British imperialism and colonialism in the Pacific.<ref name="Daley 2020" /><ref name=AlProc/><ref>{{Cite web 
|last=Gapps 
|first=Stephen 
|date=28 April 2020 
|title=Make No Mistake: Cook's Voyages were Part of a Military Mission to Conquer and Expand
 |url=https://theconversation.com/make-no-mistake-cooks-voyages-were-part-of-a-military-mission-to-conquer-and-expand-134404
 |access-date=8 April 2024
 |website=The Conversation
}}</ref>{{sfn|Thomas|2003|p=xxxiii}}{{efn|[[Geoffrey Blainey]] notes that Banks promoted Botany Bay as a site for colonisation after Cook's death.{{sfn|Blainey|2020|p=287}} }} [[Robert Tombs]] has defended Cook, arguing: "He epitomized the [[Age of Enlightenment]] in which he lived" and in conducting his first voyage "was carrying out an enlightened mission, with instructions from the Royal Society to show 'patience and forbearance' towards native peoples".<ref>{{cite news
|last=Tombs 
|first=Robert 
|author-link=Robert Tombs
|date=4 February 2021
 |title=Captain Cook Wasn't a 'Genocidal' Villain. He Was a True Enlightenment Man 
|work=The Telegraph
 |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2021/02/04/captain-cook-wasnt-genocidal-villain-true-enlightenment-man/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2021/02/04/captain-cook-wasnt-genocidal-villain-true-enlightenment-man/ |archive-date=10 January 2022 
|url-access=subscription
 |url-status=live 
|access-date=9 December 2021 |issn=0307-1235}}{{cbignore}}</ref>