Kane Old Cox, Sandwich Islander, 1847, detailed

Naukane (c. 1779 – February 2, 1850), also known as John Coxe, Edward Cox, and Coxe was a

Native Hawaiian Native Hawaiians (also known as Indigenous Hawaiians, Kānaka Maoli, Aboriginal Hawaiians, First Hawaiians, or simply Hawaiians) ( haw, kānaka, , , and ), are the indigenous ethnic group of Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands. Hawa ...

chief who traveled widely through North America in the early 19th century. He was either considered a member of the royal household of

Kamehameha I Kamehameha I (; Kalani Paiea Wohi o Kaleikini Kealiikui Kamehameha o Iolani i Kaiwikapu kaui Ka Liholiho Kūnuiākea; – May 8 or 14, 1819), also known as Kamehameha the Great, was the conqueror and first ruler of the Kingdom of Hawaii. Th ...

or a chiefly retainer, possibly the same person as Noukana, the son of High Chief

Kamanawa ''For other persons with this name, please see Kamanawa II.'' Kamanawa (died c. 1802?) was a Hawaiian high chief and early supporter of King Kamehameha I, known as one of the royal ''Nīʻaupiʻo'' twins with his brother Kameeiamoku. He later bec ...

, the King's uncle and trusted advisor.

Life

In 1811 the '' Tonquin'', belonging to the American

Pacific Fur Company The Pacific Fur Company (PFC) was an American fur trade venture wholly owned and funded by John Jacob Astor that functioned from 1810 to 1813. It was based in the Pacific Northwest, an area contested over the decades between the United Kingdom o ...

(PFC), stopped on

Oahu Oahu () ( Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over two-thirds of the population of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The island of O� ...

and recruited twenty Hawaiians to work as labourers (known as

kanakas Kanakas were workers (a mix of voluntary and involuntary) from various Pacific Islands employed in British colonies, such as British Columbia (Canada), Fiji, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and Queensland (Australia) in the 19 ...

) in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Tho ...

. King Kamehameha I appointed Naukane to join the group and look after the interests of Hawaiian laborers. On the voyage to

Fort Astoria Fort Astoria (also named Fort George) was the primary fur trading post of John Jacob Astor's Pacific Fur Company (PFC). A maritime contingent of PFC staff was sent on board the ''Tonquin (1807 ship), Tonquin'', while another party traveled overl ...

on the Columbia River Naukane was given the name John Coxe, because he resembled a shipmate on the ''Tonquin''. online a
Google Books
/ref> Soon after Naukane arrived at Fort Astoria, David Thompson of the

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

-based North West Company (NWC) also arrived. In July, 1811, Thompson and a group of Astorians began to journey up the Columbia River. The two parties traveled together until they reached the

Columbia Gorge The Columbia River Gorge is a canyon of the Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. Up to deep, the canyon stretches for over as the river winds westward through the Cascade Range, forming the boundary between the sta ...

, after which Thompson went on ahead. Before parting ways there was an exchange of some of the workers. Thompson allowed his employee Michel Boulard to join the Pacific Fur Company in exchange for Naukane, who Thompson referred to as Coxe. Boulard was a 40-year-old

voyageur The voyageurs (; ) were 18th and 19th century French Canadians who engaged in the transporting of furs via canoe during the peak of the North American fur trade. The emblematic meaning of the term applies to places (New France, including the ...

who had worked with Thompson off and on for the previous eleven years. Boulard, although weaker with age, was useful to the Astorians for his great knowledge of geography and native affairs. In contrast, Naukane was valuable to Thompson for his great strength. Naukane traveled with Thompson as far as

Spokane House Spokane House was a fur-trading post founded in 1810 by the British-Canadian North West Company, located on a peninsula where the Spokane River and Little Spokane River meet. When established, it was the North West Company's farthest outpost in ...

. There he was left with

Jaco Finlay Jacques Raphaël Finlay (1768–1828), commonly known as Jaco or Jacco (pr. Jocko), was an early Canadian fur trader, scout, and explorer associated with the North West Company. He built Spokane House and Kootanae House, two key fur-trading po ...

while Thompson continued rapidly on. Soon Naukane was traveling east as well, crossing the continent to Fort William (today's

Thunder Bay Thunder Bay is a city in and the seat of Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada. It is the most populous municipality in Northwestern Ontario and the second most populous (after Greater Sudbury) municipality in Northern Ontario; its population i ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

) on

Lake Superior Lake Superior in central North America is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. and the third-largest by volume, holding 10% of the world's surface fresh wa ...

.Asian North American History Timeline Project
, explorASIAN From there he traveled by water to Quebec. In 1812 the ship took him to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. In 1813 he returned to the Pacific Northwest on After the demise of the Pacific Fur Company during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...

, Naukane returned to the Hawaiian Islands in 1815. He soon returned to the Pacific Northwest as an employee of the North West Company. He worked as a labourer at Fort George (the name of Fort Astoria under the NWC). When the company was merged into the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business di ...

(HBC) in 1821, Naukane remained at Fort George as an HBC employee. In 1823 he was sent with King

Kamehameha II Kamehameha II (November 1797 – July 14, 1824) was the second king of the Kingdom of Hawaii. His birth name was Liholiho and full name was Kalaninui kua Liholiho i ke kapu ʻIolani. It was lengthened to Kalani Kaleiʻaimoku o Kaiwikapu o Laʻ ...

to England to visit

King George IV George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from the death of his father, King George III, on 29 January 1820, until his own death ten ye ...

. He spent most of the rest of his life near

Fort Vancouver Fort Vancouver was a 19th century fur trading post that was the headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company's Columbia Department, located in the Pacific Northwest. Named for Captain George Vancouver, the fort was located on the northern bank of th ...

, working for the HBC. He had a wife in 1825 and appears to have had a Native slave, Marie, whom he likely inherited through a previous Native wife. He appears to have retired in 1843 or 1844 and probably continued to live in Kanaka Village at Fort Vancouver. He died on February 2, 1850, at Fort Vancouver.

References

External links

First Hawaiian to visit Inland Northwest reaches Spokane House on August 13, 1811
HistoryLink.org {{Pacific Fur Company Hawaiian nobility Native Hawaiian people North West Company people Hudson's Bay Company people Fur traders History of the Pacific Northwest 1770s births 1850 deaths Explorers from the Kingdom of Hawaii Nobility of the Americas