A village in New Zealand has banned a replica of Captain Cook's ship from docking as part of commemorations to mark 250 years since his arrival in the country.
The British colonist first landed in New Zealand on October 8th 1769 and a flotilla of replica ships is due to circumnavigate the country next month to commemorate their "first onshore encounters" with the Māori.
The Tuia 250 flotilla was due to visit the far-north town of Mangonui as part of the programme; however, the stop has now been cancelled after complaints from the local Māori community.
Mangonui. Image: Discover New ZealandAnahera Herbert-Graves, the chief executive of the local iwi - Maori for tribe or nation - told Radio New Zealand that they were never consulted about the plans.
She said Cook sailed by the area and decided to name it 'Doubtless Bay' without ever making landfall.
"It's a fiction for him to 're-visit' us because he never came," she said.
"He was a barbarian.
"Wherever he went, like most people of the time of imperial expansion, there were murders, there were abductions, there were rapes - and just a lot of bad outcomes for the indigenous people.
"He didn't discover anything down here, and we object to Tuia 250 using euphemisms like 'encounters' and 'meetings' to disguise what were actually invasions."
Cooper's Beach New Zealand. Image: Discover Doubtless BayThe Tuia 250 includes replicas of Pacific, Māori and European vessels. it will sail around the country for three months between October and December.
The event's website describes it as an opportunity to "hold honest conversations about the past and the present and navigate a shared future."
It also said it can showcase the "exceptional feats of voyaging that brought us together."
Spokesperson Tamsin Edwards said the ministry believed it had the support of the local community after talks with a group that included a single representative from the Ngāti Kahu Iwi.
Mangonui has now been removed as a destination.
The flotilla will set off from the town of Gisborne - where Captain Cook first landed and the first significant meetings between colonist and Māori took place - next month.
The town recently elected to remove a statue of the explorer after it was repeatedly vandalised.
Meanwhile, marine archaeologist are continuing to examine a shipwreck off the coast of Rhode Island in the US in an effort to confirm that it is the HMS Endeavour, which cook used to sail to Australia and New Zealand.
In later life, the ship was renamed Lord Sandwich and used to transport troops during the American Revolution.
It was scuttled alongside 13 other vessels in 1778 and scientists have been working to establish its location for many years.
