Editing James Cook (section)

===Controversy===
[[File:Hyde_Park Captain Cook.JPG|thumb|[[Statue of James Cook, Hyde Park|Statue of James Cook]], Hyde Park, Sydney. The rear inscription reads: "Discovered this territory, 1770".]]

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 (see [[Gweagal shield]]).<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>

In July 2021, a statue of Cook in [[Victoria, British Columbia]], Canada, was torn down in protests about the [[Canadian Indian residential school system|deaths of Indigenous residential school children]] in Canada.<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> In January 2024, a statue of Cook in [[St Kilda, Melbourne]] was cut down in a protest against colonialism;  the premier of [[Victoria (state)|Victoria]] pledged to work with the local council to repair the statue.<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>Proctor, Alice (2020) Chs 11, 21; pp. 255–62 and ''passim''</ref> While a number of commentators argue that Cook enabled British imperialism and colonialism in the Pacific,<ref name="Daley 2020" /><ref>{{cite book |last=Proctor |first=Alice |title=The Whole Picture: The colonial story of the art in our museums and why we need to talk about it |publisher=Cassell |year=2020 |isbn=978-1-78840-155-5 |location=London |page=243}}</ref><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><ref>{{Harvnb|Thomas|2003|p=xxxiii}}</ref> [[Geoffrey Blainey]], among others, notes that Banks promoted Botany Bay as a site for colonisation after Cook's death.<ref>{{harvnb|Blainey|2020|p=287}}</ref> [[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 |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>