Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

James Cook bicentenary celebrations in New Zealand

1970; Royal Society; Volume: 24; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1098/rsnr.1970.0013

1743-0178

C. A. Fleming,

Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies

THE enthusiasm with which the Government and people of New Zealand celebrated the bicentennial of the Endeavour's landfall and the first landing of Europeans on 9 October 1769, at the site where the City of Gisborne now stands, has firmly established James Cook as the outstanding national hero in the history of this young country. In the capital city of Wellington, national celebration of the bicentenary began on 3 October when the Prime Minister, The Rt Hon. Keith Holyoake, opened a Cook Exhibition in the Dominion Museum that will remain open to the public for ten months. Guests on that occasion also previewed the film prepared in New Zealand for exhibition overseas: ‘Your humble and obedient servant, James Cook.’ The Government had agreed that the main national celebrations should be focused on Gisborne. This country town of somewhat less than 30,000 people (not without some similarities to the Endeavour’s home port of Whitby) responded warmly to the honour. Somewhat peripheral to the main flow of tourist and industrial traffic, Gisborne is the business, administrative and market centre for the East Coast, an extensive area of hilly grazing country producing wool and mutton; Gisborne also ranks fourth in New Zealand as a fishing port and the fishing industry continues to grow. Gisborne district has a large and increasing population of Maori people (Ngati-porou tribe) who play a prominent and increasing role in the life of the city. They comprise a higher percentage of the population than in any other district of New Zealand and actively promote their cultural heritage, following the inspiration of the late Sir Apirana Ngata, a notable leader in the district.