Muaūpoko are descended from the ancestor Tara, whose name has been given to many New Zealand landmarks,[1] most notably Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington).

In the early nineteenth century Ngāi Tara were a large iwi occupying the area between the Tararua Ranges in the east and the Tasman Sea in the west, from Sinclair Head in the south to the Rangitīkei River in the north.

Some hapū[vague] had even settled in Queen Charlotte Sound in the 17th century.

[3] They were driven into "the fastnesses of the hills", or forced to take refuge with the Whanganui and other tribes.

[4] In the 2012 New Zealand High Court case of Taueki v Police, concerning a protest at Lake Horowhenua, Justice Kós stated that the "scars of that battle remain livid today.