History

"Ko Te Waewae Kapiti 0 Tara Raua Ko Rangitane". The full name given by the Maori to Kapiti describes the island as the meeting place of the boundaries of Tara and Rangitane (the son and grandson of Whatonga).

About 1150 AD Whatonga divided the country by making a boundary from the southern tip of Kapiti straight across to the east coast of the North Island.

The land to the south of this line he gave to Tara, and the land to the north, including Kapiti Island, he gave to Tautoki, another son. Tautoki’s heir was Rangitane, father of the great Rangitane people. They, the Muaupoko, and later the Ngati Kahungunu were the first known inhabitants of Kapiti.

Life then was peaceful, and parts of the island had been cleared and cultivated, especially the flatter areas around Okupe Lagoon and Rangatira

In 1822 Te Rauparaha, having traveled south from Kawhia with his Ngati Toa people, hatched a plot to capture Kapiti and have it as his own base. He made a great show of preparing to mount an attack on the Muaupoko and Rangitane in the Horowhenua area. When Te Rauparaha left Waikanae with a force. for Horowhenua the defenders on Kapiti relaxed their guard.

The next day before dawn Te Pehi Kupe, another Ngati Toa chief, secretly crossed to Kapiti with his followers and took the defenders by surprise.

Te Pehi conquered the inhabitants after a fierce battle with many casualties.

Te Rauparaha then established himself and his people on Kapiti. They formed and occupied three large pa: Wharekohu in south, Rangatira, and Taepiro between the two,where Te Rauparaha took up residence.

Retaliation against the Ngati Toa was inevitable, but it took almost two years to gather enough support for an attack.

By early 1824, however, over 2,000 warriors from all over the lower North Island and parts of the South Island had assembled between Otaki and Waikanae.

The Ngati Toa knew a large invasion force was assembling, but weeks went by and the expected attack never came.

Vigilance was relaxed and when the attack did come the defenders were completely unprepared. A vast armada of canoes approached Kapiti overnight and landed at Waiorua at the north end of the island.

The defenders held up the invasion while a messenger rushed to Taepiro for help. The attack had nearly succeeded when Te Rauparaha arrived with reinforcements.

The invaders were routed the largest Maori force ever assembled along this coast was defeated by one of the smallest.

Te Rauparaha was described as fierce and aggressive towards his enemies, and intelligent and reasonable in his dealings with the pakeha.

In 1846, however, because of his warlike activities he was captured and interned on the order of Governor Sir George Grey. He died at Otaki in 1849 soon after his release.

The place where he was buried has been kept a close secret; it was probably either Otaki or his Beloved Kapiti Island.

During the reign of Te Rauparaha, the whalers arrived and established themselves on Kapiti and the three islets where they set up seven whaling stations. By about 1846 whaling was no longer profitable and the whalers moved away.

After the death of Te Rauparaha and the departure of the whalers, most of the Maori also left the island. Many of them had relied on trade with the Pakeha.

During the 1840s the first of three farms was established on Kapiti at Wharekohu Bay in the south; where Andrew Brown drained and cleared 250 hectares of swamp and forest.

The next was at Rangatira, and the third was at Waiorua in the north. Nearly three- quarters of Kapiti’s virgin forest was destroyed.

Farming was marginal, no doubt because of the steep country and problems associated with transporting stock to and from the mainland.

Many animals were introduced, including sheep, cattle, goats, pigs, deer, cats and dogs. The kiore (Polynesian rat) arrived much earlier,brought by the Maori from Polynesia where it was an important food. The Norway rat presumably came ashore during the whaling era.

In 1892 Australian brush-tailed possums were brought to Kapiti to establish a fur trade, the island was being irreversibly altered Several far-sighted naturalists, seeing the destruction of New Zealand’s unique Forests, and realizing the potential of island sanctuaries, urged the government to act.

The Kapiti Island Public Reserve Act was passed in 1897 to establish the Island as "a preserve for the flora and fauna of New Zealand". By this time more than half the island was cleared of bush and being grazed.

The first full time caretaker was appointed in 1906, and in 1949 a regulation was passed requiring a permit for entry into the reserve.

Most of the island was gazetted flora and fauna reserve in 1973, and this status changed to nature reserve after the Reserves Act was passed in 1977.

The reserve was managed by the Department of Lands and Survey until 1987, when the Department of Conservation took over responsibility.

Efforts to improve the island as a Habitat for native plants and animals began soon after it was reserved. Cats, deer, goats, sheep, cattle, pigs, and dogs were eradicated from the reserve.

Between February 1980 and November 1986 22,500 possums were removed from Kapiti, making this the first ever successful possum eradication programme.

Considering the damage done to the forest in the early days, Kapiti’s vegetation has made a remarkable recovery and the island now has a dense mantle of rapidly regenerating forest.

In 1996, an operation to eradicate rats was undertaken. Within a few months lizards and invertebrates were becoming more conspicuous on the island.

During the early 1900s many birds and plants were introduced to Kapiti. One of these, the little Spotted Kiwi, is now extinct on the mainland but is thriving on Kapiti. Little spotted kiwi have been transferred from Kapiti to other island sanctuaries in a bid to establish other Populations.

Since 1981 a series of experimental tranfers of the endangered Saddleback (Tieke) and Stitchbird (Hihi) have been made to Kapiti. These birds have been brought from islands from in the Hauraki Gulf that are free from harmful introduced mammals. Endangered Takahe and Kokako have also been introduced to Kapiti. These birds have been introduced for "insurance" in case any disaster befalls existing populations.