I am appalled at the ignorance of most Alaskans and our leaders about Captain James Cook in Alaska. Cook was on a mapping, trading, and exploring expedition that was in search of the Northwest Passage. The mission was geographical and scientific. The expedition peacefully visited with and traded with Indigenous peoples of British Columbia, Alaska, and Russia with an interest in sea otters. His descriptions of the Indigenous peoples of Alaska were among the first. His charts and maps of Cook Inlet and the Bering and Chukchi seas were so accurate that his depth soundings are still included on many charts today. He did claim Point Possession for England, but then sailed away and that was that. There was no English period in Alaska history. From 1847 to 1869, a Hudson’s Bay Company trading post existed in Fort Yukon, Russian America. In 1869, the trading post was taken over by the Alaska Commercial Company.
Cook sailed under orders from the admiralty (the Prime Directive in Star Trek was based on Cook’s orders), and he was not to interfere with local peoples and their customs, unless the expedition was attacked. Cook had essentially no impact on Alaska Natives. He was killed and eaten by Hawaiian Islanders over a dispute about a missing ship’s boat.
If you want to read about injustice to Alaskan Natives, delve into the Russian period in Alaska. The Natives became slaves or were summarily killed under the Russians. They were forced to hunt sea otters for their skins which were shipped to Russia. The cultures of Southcentral and Southeast, Bristol Bay, and up the Yukon River to Nulato were impacted severely. In 1851, the Russian trading post at Nulato was attacked by “nearby Indians,” resulting in a bloody massacre, with everyone in the village slaughtered, Indian and white. People should be turning their attention to the removal of the Russians in Alaska, particularly road, town and village names.
History is not there for you to like or dislike. It is there for you to learn from. And if it offends you, even better, because then you are less likely to repeat it. History is not yours to erase. It belongs to all of us. Tipping a statue does nothing to change history. It shows ignorance. Keep the Captain Cook statue. In addition, read some Alaska history; it is fascinating.
Thomas Eley
Anchorage
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