Of course, it's also possible that the Hawaiians were just upset that Cook had attempted to kidnap their king. Most accounts from the time portray a chaotic scene in which Cook himself fired at least two shots, probably killing at least one islander. And one thing that seems pretty clear, even as described by European chroniclers, is that Cook's death does not look premeditated, and it sure doesn't look like a ritual. But even so, the idea that the Hawaiians saw Cook as a god has ended up in a good many accounts of his demise. Why? Well, one explanation is that it fits in with other stories of explorers. You've all probably heard that the Tainos thought Columbus was a god, and that the Aztecs supposedly thought Cortes was a god.