A New Zealand statue of Captain Cook, that overlooks a beach where he first arrived in the country, is set to be taken down, following a growing debate on its depiction of colonial history.
The statue was unveiled in 1969 and has received opposition and vandalism ever since; but it was attacks in 2016 that reignited debate about its place in the region’s history.
The statue sits on an ancestral mountain of the area’s Ngati Oneone tribe, who believe the statue is not an accurate representation of the area’s history because Cook’s men shot dead many of their ancestors in their first exchanges after landing. District Councillor, Meredith Akuhata-Brown, says the statue made no sense because Cook never climbed the mountain.
This week, a committee voted to move the statue to the Tairawhiti Museum, as part of a revamp of the area, before the 250th anniversary of Cook’s arrival takes place next year.