The first known European to sight the islands was Mathew Boyd of Camberwell, London, commander of the merchant ship, Bellona, in 1793.

The Hiti were dark-skinned, short people with long hair reaching to their knees and spoke a language intelligible to the invaders, who gradually killed off the indigenous inhabitants.

The oral traditions of Rennell and Bellona relate that the first invaders consisted of seven married couples who each founded a clan (sa’a), of which five became extinct.

Just after settling, some men returned to East ‘Uvea (Wallis Island) to fetch precious turmeric root stocks that were used for ritual dyeing and anointment.

In following generations two men went to Mungua (probably Woodlark Island, also known as Murua) and returned with place names and new kinds of yams and bananas.

One Rennellese man is known to have returned, bringing home with him Western goods such as axes, cotton cloth, umbrellas, and guns.

In 1910 the first three Christian missionaries were killed on Rennell, and the islands were left to themselves until preachers from the Seventh-day Adventists (SDA), the Church of England and the South Seas Evangelical Mission (SSEM) arrived in 1936.

In 1938, the Seventh Day Adventist Church became dominant on Rennell, followed by Bellona, which gradually converted all the inhabitants to Christianity.

On July 7, 1978, Solomon Islands gained its independence from Great Britain, and Rennell and Bellona became part of the newly created country.

In 2005, there were reports that the people of Rennell and Bellona province were determined to secede from the country following a lack of infrastructure investment.

[2] The history and linkage of the Rennellese people with the Māori are explored in a documentary entitled the "Mystery of the Lost Waka (canoe)", made by Maori TV in 2007.