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Mäori legend suggests that the Takitimu canoe was the first to settle in the Hawke's Bay region, later forming the Ngati-kahungumu tribe. There were several myths passed through the tribe and Cape Kidnappers was called Matau-a-Maui because it was thought Maui used it as a hook to fish up the North Island.
The name Cape Kidnappers was given by Captain Cook after some Mäori tried to kidnap a Tahitian boy on the HMS Endeavour. He then named the area Hawke's Bay after the First Lord of Admiralty in Britain. He sighted Napier and travelled north hoping to find a better place to land.
Whalers settled Mahia, Waikokopu, Wairoa and Cape Kidnappers from 1936, followed by missionaries and traders. During the 1860's the are began to be settled by sheep farmers.
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