New Zealand hotel set to drop 'Captain Cook' from its name after more than a century
A Dunedin pub named after Captain James Cook is set to change its name, in another twist for the iconic student venue.
The name change is one of many reactions to global Black Lives Matter protests, sparked by the death of George Floyd in police custody on May 25 in the United States.
The Cook, as it is known locally, has stood on the corner of Great King and Albany streets since 1878.
But its name is now set to change, after owner Michael McLeod posted on Facebook that “people are hurting”.
The name did not mean “anything significant” to the now music venue, and changing it was not rewriting history.
“I can’t see how removing the association of the name Cook from my music venue means anybody loses anything,” the post said.
“For some people, Captain Cook is as offensive as a Nazi flag.”
The pub has hit the headlines in recent years for other reasons.
It made national news in June 2013 when the student pub closed. It reopened three years later after a consortium of 17 investors bought the bar and spent an undisclosed sum transforming it into a gastropub.
That venue was revived in early 2018 when McLeod bought the business, but later closed the downstairs pub and restaurant to focus on the live music venue upstairs.
Last year the downstairs bar and restaurant became the city’s first Sal’s pizza restaurant.
The pizza joint does not list the Captain Cook as its location, but just its address on Great King St.
Noted historian and anthropologist Anne Salmond told Stuff in a 2019 interview that Cook was one of the world’s greatest explorers, but on the other hand, “Captain Cook has become an icon of imperial history”.
Other New Zealand icons have been under scrutiny over the past week.
In Christchurch tourist town Akaroa, a well-established restaurant changed its name after an academic pointed out it was linked to a slaver and alleged rapist.
The Hamilton City Council also removed a statue of Captain Hamilton following a formal request and a pledge to tear it down.
Meanwhile, the Christchurch City Council has said it will not remove seven statues in the city which are linked to colonial leaders responsible for establishing and leading the region as part of the British Empire.
This story originally appeared on Stuff.co.nz. Read the original article here.
