The first settlers in the area were Ngāti Tūmatakōkiri, an iwi (tribe) from the Whanganui area that came to Parapara in the 16th century. These Māori settled around the Parapara Inlet. By the early 1800s, Ngāti Apa ki te Rā Tō and Ngāi Tahu had displaced Ngāti Tūmatakōkiri. During the 1820s, Ngāti Tama came from the North Island and displaced the two iwi. During the mid-1830s, the iwi's rangatira, Te Pūoho-o-te-rangi, led further migration of his people from Taranaki to what is now the Tasman District and this resulted in tension. Te Pūoho-o-te-rangi himself moved south and settled at Parapara. From there, he started a raid against Ngāi Tahu in 1836 down the West Coast, across the Haast Pass into Otago, and into Southland, where he was killed by a party led by Tūhawaiki.
