An investigation is underway to determine the culprit behind an act of vandalism over the holiday weekend at the Captain Cook Monument on the shoreline of Kealakekua Bay.
The white obelisk at Kaawaloa, which commemorates Capt. James Cook, the British explorer and navigator who was killed at the site on Feb. 14, 1779, was defaced with red paint along with the words “you are on native land.” The vandalism to the 27-foot monument erected in 1874 by Cook’s “fellow countrymen” showed up Saturday morning.
On Monday, the state Department of Land and Natural Resources confirmed its enforcement arm, the Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement was working on a report and investigation was ongoing. No additional information was provided regarding the incident that occurred on British soil.
Attempts to reach the British Consulate in Los Angeles, the nearest consulate to Hawaii, were unsuccessful as of press-time Monday.
The land on which the monument stands is a portion of a parcel awarded in 1869 to Princess Miriam Likelike and her husband, Archibald Cleghorn. In 1874, the land was deeded British Consul James Wodehouse for the construction of the monument.
“Wodehouse sold the property to Great Britain for $1, despite American ideas of sovereignty which forbid the sale of American property to a foreign government. A vote was taken at the Territorial Legislature in 1928 to confirm British ownership of the land,” an EIS released in 2021 for the Kealakekua Bay State Historical Park Master Plan Improvements reads.
The site is just 0.1304 acres and is owned by the Captain Cook Monument Trust, according to Hawaii County tax records. No record or agent could be located for the Captain Cook Monument Trust as of press-time.
To reach the monument, one must hike 2 miles down to the shoreline, or travel by water. A four-wheel drive road does exist, however, it is gated.
As news of the vandalism spread on social media, some people expressed discontent with the defacement, while others said the monument should be removed because it represents colonialism.
Efforts to remove monuments commemorating Cook have picked up steam as of late in the U.S. and around the world. In June 2021, protesters in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, pulled down and dumped a statue of the explorer into a bay. That came a year after New Zealand removed a similar statue. A petition seeking the removal of a statue at a university in Australia is currently circulating and talk continues of removing a monument to the British man in Alaska.
In Hawaii, several older Change.org petitions continue to garner signatures asking the state to remove not only the monument at Kaawaloa but also one on Kauai.
Hawaii County Mayor Mitch Roth said Monday his administration understands “that there is a significant portion of our population that is disheartened, angered, and left uneasy by the sorely felt wrongdoings of the past — and they have every right to be.
“There remains much to do as a County and State to make up for the shortcomings of our history here in Hawaii, but we must do so in a constructive, long-lasting, pono, and most importantly, legal way. Collective action is necessary to incite change, but if harm is brought to a place, person, or thing in the process, the action becomes all for not. As an administration, we welcome change and invite our community to join us in the pursuit of justice for all who live on our island. By working together, we can make real, impactful change that is equitable and in the best interest of those who have come before us and those who will come after,” he said in a prepared statement.