In Search of First Contact

In Search of First Contact is an exploration of possible European landings in the Hawaiian Islands prior to 1778, the year Captain James Cook stumbled upon the archipelago in his search for the fabled Northwest Passage, dividing Hawaiian history into pre-contact and post-contact. _____ Author Gordon Joyce's career as Chief Ranger of Puʻuhonua o Honaunau (Place of Refuge) National Historical Park on Hawaiʻi Island gives him unique access to the stories and people of Kealakekua Bay, where Cook and perhaps other foreigners before him, landed. Bringing us along on his journey into the maritime history of pirates and galleons, indigenous islanders and European outsiders, Joyce offers fresh insights based on ship logs, early cartography voyagers' letters and journals, European histories, museum artifacts, and oral and written Hawaiian histories. And in so doing, he might be bringing us the last word in a debate that has been going on for 250 years, since Captain Cook and his crew first discussed the possibility of earlier non-Polynesian landings. _____ paperback | 264 pages | 7" x 10" | color