Stewart Island

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Lore & Background

Archaeology indicates that the island was settled in the 14th century, shortly after the Māori settled in the South Island. The original Māori name, Te Punga o Te Waka a Māui, means 'The Anchor Stone of Māui’s Canoe'. This refers to the legend of Māui and his crew, who from their canoe Te Waka a Māui (the South Island), caught and raised the great fish Te Ika a Māui, the North Island. The more common Māori name, Rakiura, is usually translated as 'glowing skies' in reference to the aurora australis. For some, Rakiura is the abbreviated version of Te Rakiura a Te Rakitamau, translated as 'great blush of Rakitamau', in reference to the latter's embarrassment when refused the hand in marriage of not one but two daughters of an island chief. James Cook saw the insularity of Stewart Island during his first Pacific Voyage in 1770. After five days of sailing south/clockwise around the island, Endeavour was at the western entrance of Foveaux Strait where the crew could see Ruapuke Island, which they had passed 5 days earlier, at the eastern entrance of the strait. Cook wrote: 'they're appear'd an open Channel … we saw the small island we were in with on the 6th instant'. Zachary Hicks wrote: 'this is ye Western opening of the Passage mentioned the 6 Ins.' Nonetheless, Cook knew that an offshore island was strategically valuable to Britain’s rivals and should be hidden as a matter of military policy. He tried to erase his description of Foveaux Strait from his journal and drew a revised chart attaching the island to the mainland, turning Stewart Island into a peninsula. Like Beaglehole, another New Zealand historian, Robert McNab, was shocked by this. Neither could conceive that Cook and the Admiralty would engage in strategic disinformation/cartographic secrecy. McNab writes: 'Unless given us in Cook’s own words, it would be incredible that he could have made such a mistake.' However, G. A. Mawer argues that Cook was simply unsure whether it was an island because his focus was on finding the southern extent of New Zealand, and conditions were unfavourable for more closely exploring a possible strait. The strait was first charted by Owen Folger Smith, a New Yorker who had been in Sydney Harbour with Eber Bunker, from whom he probably learned of the eastern seal hunting. Smith charted the strait in the whaleboat of the sealing brig Union (out of New York) in 1804 and on his 1806 chart, it was called Smith's Straits. The island received its English name in honour of William W. Stewart. He was first officer on the Pegasus, which visited in 1809, and he charted the large south-eastern harbour that now bears the ship's name (Port Pegasus) and determined the northern points of the island, proving that it was an island. In 1824, he initiated plans in England to establish a timber, flax and trading settlement at Stewart Island and sailed there in 1826. In 1841, the island was established as one of the three Provinces of New Zealand and was named New Leinster. However, the province existed on paper only and was abolished after only five years.

Reader's Guide

Stewart Island / Rakiura holds significance as a site of early Māori settlement and as a key location in New Zealand's colonial and cartographic history. The controversy over James Cook's deliberate misrepresentation of the island as a peninsula highlights the role of strategic disinformation in early exploration. The island's official name was altered to Stewart Island/Rakiura by the Ngāi Tahu Claims Settlement Act 1998, reflecting the recognition of Māori heritage. Today, the island is a protected area, with Rakiura National Park covering over 80 percent of its land, and it serves as a habitat for rare species such as the kākāpō on Codfish Island / Whenua Hou. Its economy relies on fishing and summer tourism, and its small permanent population of under 500 people maintains a close-knit community centered on Oban. The island's geology, composed mainly of granite and diorites, and its rivers, including the longest, Freshwater River, contribute to its unique landscape. The traditional seasonal harvesting of sooty shearwater chicks, known as muttonbirding, continues on the Tītī / Muttonbird Islands, preserving a cultural practice of Rakiura Māori.

Did You Know?

• The original Māori name, Te Punga o Te Waka a Māui, means 'The Anchor Stone of Māui’s Canoe', referring to the legend of Māui and his crew catching the North Island as a great fish.
• James Cook tried to erase his description of Foveaux Strait from his journal and drew a revised chart attaching Stewart Island to the mainland as a peninsula, a move historians have debated as strategic disinformation.
• The strait was first charted by Owen Folger Smith, a New Yorker, in 1804 using the whaleboat of the sealing brig Union, and was initially called Smith's Straits.
• In 1841, Stewart Island was established as the Province of New Leinster, but it existed on paper only and was abolished after five years.
• Codfish Island / Whenua Hou, 3 km west of Stewart Island, is a protected habitat for kākāpō.