During HMS Endeavour's stay at nearby Meretoto / Ship Cove, Cook climbed to the summit of Motuara, and formally (and controversially) claimed it and the adjacent lands in the name of and for the use of the sovereign of the British Empire.

[7] Although the residents enjoyed long periods of peace, due to its strategic location over the years different tribal groups contested, fought and merged there; hence, the fortified pā upon a partly attached rocky islet off the south east point of Motuara Island.

As Cook wrote in his journal: The inhabitants of this place invited us ashore with their usual Marks of Friendship, and shew'd us all over the place; which indeed was soon done, for it was very small, yet it contain'd a good number of people, and they had in it, Split and hanging up to dry, a prodidgious quantity of various sorts of small fish, a part of which they sold to us for such Trifles as we had about us.Writer Stephen Gerard describes the Rangitāne point of view: And then one morning – it was on the 15 January [1770] – they heard the mournful blare of a conch-shell calling from the island.

He wrote:[8] … they leive desperse'd along the Shore in search of their daly bread which is fish and firn roots for they cultivate not no part of the lands… This people are poor when compared to many we have seen and their Canoes are mean and without orament, the little traffick we had with them was wholy for fish for we saw little else they had to o dispose of, they seem'd to have some knowlidge of Iron for they very readily took Nails in exchange for fishDuring Endeavour's stay at nearby Meretoto / Ship Cove, James Cook and his crew explored and charted the sound, including Motuara Island.

On 31 January 1770, Cook and his officers erected a flag post on the summit of the island, hoisted the Union Jack, and claimed Queen Charlotte Sound for his king.

Prior to the flag raising ceremony, Cook sought and gained permission from the Topaa and his people to put a mark on the island to prove that the British had been there.

Fifty years later, an interpretation panel put up as part of the 250th commemorations – presumably the Department of Conservation (New Zealand) and in consultation with local iwi (tribes) – tells the wider story, acknowledging all peoples "who have travelled to this special place".

[2] After the flag raising ceremony, the party drank a toast to Queen Charlotte's health and gave the empty bottle to Topaa, who, in Cook's words, "was highly pleased".

But by then the Rangitāne of Motuara were not in a position to care; for the bloody Te Rauparaha had taken their territory from them and a great many of their lives as well.The once abundant native birds and bush-covered hills were much admired by all.

The project is a collaboration between Willowbank Wildlife Reserve in Christchurch, Department of Conservation, Picton’s E-Ko Tours and local iwi Te Atiawa as part of the Nationwide Operation Nest Egg.