Story: Nearshore islands

Page 2. Early inhabitants

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Māori

New Zealand’s nearshore islands have always attracted people. As experienced seafarers from Polynesia, Māori were at home on islands. Seafood was plentiful, and the ocean and cliffs formed natural defences.

Some islands were noted points of arrival for Māori waka (canoes). It is said that the chief Manaia landed the canoe Māhuhu-ki-te-rangi at Motu Kōkako, the famous hole in the rock at the entrance to the Bay of Islands in the north. His people then settled on the Poor Knights (Tawhiti Rahi and Aorangi) and Hen and Chickens (Taranga and Marotiri) islands. In the same area, the Ngātiwai tribe established themselves on Little Barrier (Hauturu) and Great Barrier (Aotea) islands.

When the renowned chief Te Rauparaha led Ngāti Toa and their allies south to a new home in the Wellington region in the 1820s, he chose Kāpiti Island as his base. Much further south, his opponent, the Ngāi Tahu leader Tūhawaiki, had a home on Ruapuke Island, off present-day Bluff.

Island resources

The islands around Stewart Island (Rakiura) were an important harvesting ground for tītī (muttonbirds), and Māori still have harvesting rights there. Other islands also held valuable resources. Tūhua (Mayor Island) was an important source of obsidian, a volcanic glass used for cutting and scraping, while D’Urville Island (Rangitoto ki te Tonga) provided adzite or baked argillite for making adzes.

Early Europeans

The first European arrivals were also seafarers who found refuge on islands.

James Cook

Two Marlborough Sounds islands featured prominently in Cook’s explorations. On 31 January 1770 he raised the British flag at the top of Motuara, claiming the South Island in the name of King George III. A plaque now marks the spot. Later, from a hill on Arapawa Island, Cook first saw the strait between the North and South islands that now bears his name.

Sealers

Sealers explored the islands in search of their prey. The first Europeans to live in New Zealand were a sealing gang dropped by the Britannia on Anchor Island in Dusky Sound (Tamatea) in 1792, with a year’s provisions. Over 10 months, they collected 4,500 sealskins, built the first European house in the country, and nearly completed New Zealand’s first European boat.

Later sealers were often left on islands to hunt. One unfortunate group was abandoned on bleak Solander Island (Hautere) for four and a half years before being rescued.

Whalers

Te Awaiti, a shore whaling station, was set up on Arapawa Island in the Marlborough Sounds in the 1820s. From hilltop lookouts, whalers could spot whales migrating through Cook Strait. Boats were sent out to harpoon them and tow the carcasses to the station for rendering.

In 1911 the Perano family founded a whaling industry at Arapawa that lasted until the end of New Zealand-based whaling in 1964. Kāpiti was also an active station.

How to cite this page:

Eileen McSaveney, 'Nearshore islands - Early inhabitants', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/nearshore-islands/page-2 (accessed 29 March 2024)

Story by Eileen McSaveney, published 24 Sep 2007