Nature and history of Motutapu Island Recreation Reserve - DoC
The tangata whenua of Motutapu have a spiritual, cultural and historical relationship with their taonga. According to tradition, Motutapu was named after a place in the Polynesian homeland of the New Zealand Maori. The island is said to have been settled by the Maori ancestor Taikehu, who arrived on the Tainui canoe.
[PDF]