View source for Naukane

{{Short description|Hawaiian chief}}
[[File:Kane Old Cox, Sandwich Islander, 1847, detailed.jpg|thumb|Portrait of Naukane, 1847, by [[Paul Kane]].]]

'''Naukane''' (c. 1779 – February 2, 1850), also known as '''John Coxe''', '''Edward Cox''', and '''Coxe''' was a [[Native Hawaiians|Native Hawaiian]] 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]] or a chiefly retainer, possibly the same person as Noukana, the son of High Chief [[Kamanawa]], the King's uncle and trusted advisor.

==Life==
In 1811, the ''[[Tonquin (1807 ship)|Tonquin]]'', belonging to the American [[Pacific Fur Company]] (PFC), stopped on [[Oahu]] and recruited twenty Hawaiians to work as labourers (known as [[Kanaka (Pacific Island worker)|kanakas]]) in the [[Pacific Northwest]].<ref name=stauffer>{{cite book |last= Stauffer |first= Robert H. |title= Kahana: How the Land was Lost |year= 2004 |publisher= University of Hawaii Press |isbn= 978-0-8248-2590-4 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=FKfJaZpahKMC&pg=PA240 |pages= 240–241}}</ref> King [[Kamehameha I]] appointed Naukane to join the group and look after the interests of Hawaiian laborers.<ref name="kanaka">{{cite journal |hdl= 10524/133 |title= Kanaka World Travelers and Fur Company Employees, 1785-1860 |journal=Hawaiian Journal of History |publisher=Hawaii Historical Society |volume= 7 |last=Duncan |first=Janice K. |year=1973 |page=95}}</ref>

On the voyage to [[Fort Astoria]] on the [[Columbia River]], Naukane was given the name John Coxe, because he resembled a shipmate on the ''Tonquin''.<ref name=chappell>{{cite book |last= Chappell |first= David A. |title= Double Ghosts |year= 1997 |publisher= M.E. Sharpe |isbn= 978-1-56324-999-0 |pages= 104, 128}} online at [https://books.google.com/books?id=FntyfsjsaScC Google Books]</ref>

Soon after Naukane arrived at Fort Astoria, [[David Thompson (explorer)|David Thompson]] of the [[Montreal]]-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 River Gorge|Columbia Gorge]], 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 [[Coureur des bois#Voyageurs|voyageur]] 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]]. There, he was left with [[Jacques Raphael Finlay|Jaco Finlay]] while Thompson continued rapidly on.<ref>{{cite book |last= Nisbet |first= Jack |title= Sources of the River: Tracking David Thompson Across Western North America |year= 1994 |publisher= Sasquatch Books |isbn= 1-57061-522-5 |pages= 224, 232}}</ref> Soon Naukane was traveling east as well, crossing the continent to [[Fort William, Ontario|Fort William]] (today's [[Thunder Bay]], [[Ontario]]) on [[Lake Superior]].<ref name=timeline>[http://www.explorasian.org/project.html Asian North American History Timeline Project] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070730020915/http://www.explorasian.org/project.html |date=2007-07-30 }}, explorASIAN</ref> From there, he traveled by water to Quebec. In 1812, the ship {{ship||Isaac Todd|1811 ship|2}} took him to [[England]]. In 1813, he returned to the Pacific Northwest on HMS ''Racoon''.<ref name=chappell/>

After the demise of the Pacific Fur Company during the [[War of 1812]], 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]] (HBC) in 1821, Naukane remained at Fort George as an HBC employee.<ref name=stauffer/> In 1823 he was sent with King [[Kamehameha II]] to England to visit King [[George IV]].<ref name="kanaka"/> He spent most of the rest of his life near [[Fort Vancouver]], 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.<ref name=stauffer/> 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.<ref name=stauffer/>

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
* [http://historylink.org/essays/output.cfm?file_id=8413 First Hawaiian to visit Inland Northwest reaches Spokane House on August 13, 1811], HistoryLink.org

{{Columbia Department}}
{{Pacific Fur Company}}

[[Category:Hawaiian nobility]]
[[Category:Native Hawaiian people]]
[[Category:North West Company people]]
[[Category:Hudson's Bay Company people]]
[[Category:Fur traders]]
[[Category:History of the Pacific Northwest]]
[[Category:1770s births]]
[[Category:1850 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century explorers]]
[[Category:Indigenous explorers of the Americas]]