It actually means “without breath”.
They could not speak the language.
My employer, Keck Observatory spent a
lot of money on native cultural instructors.
Yes I thought that also but someone corrected me way back. The King thought Cook was not alive and thus without a spirit. Possibly a ghost. The “ha” of Aloha means the “breath of life”. Prolly you are correct.
Aloha bradda!
I did a bunch of work top of Haleakala for UH, NASA, and Faulkes and went through Hawaiian Cultural trainings. Eye opening.