Author and historian Hampton Sides' latest book, The Exotic: Intrigue and Cultural Ruin in the Age of Imperialism, tells the remarkable story of Mai, a central figure in the story of Captain James Cook but one who is rarely mentioned in other books on the famous explorer.
A Tahitian war refugee who hitched a ride with Cook and became the first South Seas islander to set foot on English soil in the 1770s, Mai was treated like royalty when brought into the heart of the Empire. But he was also paraded around as something of a noble savage, encountering plenty of racist and patronising views along the way.
Santa Fe-based author, journalist and historian Hampton Sides. Photo: Sergio Salvador
Sides says Mai was poked and prodded like a dancing bear, with people taking notes on things like the way he used a fork. And his side of the story has never been told - until now.
The Santa Fe-based writer joined Sunday Morning to discuss The Exotic and how Mai played something of a Forrest Gump role in Cook's story.
He tells Jim Mora he was in French Polynesia researching the book when the Covid-19 pandemic hit.
“There was a moment there where I thought we were going to be stuck there and we thought, well maybe that’s not such a bad thing.”
Sides says they were in Bora Bora and it started to dawn on them that there were no tourists around.
“We were really the only ones around. It was a really strange time to be marooned on a paradise, a beautiful place, but also a place where you’re just watching from the inns of the earth as the world changed before our eyes.”
Sides explains that Mai came aboard one of the ships on Cook’s second voyage – The Adventure – and was brought back to England.
“He became the first Polynesian to reach English shores. He was treated like royalty, he was paraded around all of England was really a huge hit, people loved him.”
Sides saw an opportunity to write about the Polynesian experience of these first encounters with the West.
“So many of these books talk about the British encountering and interpreting Polynesian societies. Here’s a way to sort of turn the tables and completely flip the perspective and we get to see this Polynesian as he’s brought into the heart of the empire and see how he fares and what his thoughts and reactions are through this whole experience.
Mai came from Raiatea and when he visited New Zealand and met Māori, discovered they shared something in common.
“They knew about Raiatea in their myths and legends. They believed that their voyagers had come directly from Raiatea and it was a kind of holy land. It has a complex of marae that is now a UNESCO heritage site. It’s an extraordinary place, it still feels like a holy place, but it’s also where his father was killed and his people displaced by Bora Bora warriors.
“He really spent the rest of his life trying to get back to his homeland and to avenge the death of his father. That’s actually what brought him to England – he wanted to get guns and weapons. He wanted to get back to Raiatea and prosecute a war against these warriors who had wrecked his boyhood – and that’s precisely what he did.”
While Mai was greeted with great hospitality and generosity by the English, he was also treated as a scientific subject.
“People were trying him on for size. They called him the noble savage. They wanted to poke him and prod him like a dancing bear to see how he would fare in ‘civilised’ society. He would go to these lunches at the Royal Society and these people would be taking notes on him and studying the way he uses his fork. It was like Tarzan has come out of the jungles of Africa and everyone wants to study him.
“Everyone assumes, somehow, that he is royalty back in Tahiti, that he must be prince. But, in fact, he was landless, he was essentially a refugee in Tahiti but he was willing to go along with charade. He saw some benefit in it.”
Sides says Mai proved adept at mimicking the English aristocracy and excelled in parlour games like chess and backgammon and was a good hunter.
“He seemed to really enjoy himself from the beginning. He made friends, people seemed to genuinely like him and he seemed to genuinely like most of the people he encountered.. he was there for two years and becomes very close friends with Lord Sandwich.
“They rolled out the red carpet for him and he appreciates that and understands it. He has a ball.”
