Since the Polynesian people arrived in New Zealand many centuries ago, three successive waves of Maori have inhabited the Akaroa area: the Waitaha, the Kati Mamoe and then from the early 17th century, the Ngai Tahu.
The first Europeans sailed past the East Coast of New Zealand in 1770 with Captain Cook on the Endeavour. Cook named the Peninsula after his botanist, Joseph Banks.
By the 1830's, Banks Peninsula had become a European whaling centre, to the detriment of the Maori who succumbed in large numbers to disease and inter-tribal warfare exacerbated by the use of muskets.
In 1830 the Maori settlement at Takapuneke (on the south side of Akaroa) was the scene of the notorious brig Elizabeth incident. The British Captain, John Stewart, helped North Island Ngati Toa chief, Te Rauparaha, to capture the local Ngai Tahu chief, Te Maiharanui. The settlement of Takapuneke was sacked.
Partly as a result of this massacre, an official British Resident, James Busby, was sent to New Zealand in an effort to stop such atrocities. The events at Takapunkeke thus led directly to the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi.