Maki and his people were related to a number of groups who had occupied the Auckland region since the fourteenth century, including the Tainui hapū (sub-tribes) collectively known as Ngā Oho.

Their rohe or area of customary shared interest grew to include the southern Kaipara, Mahurangi, North Shore, Auckland Isthmus, and Hauraki Gulf islands such as Tiritiri Matangi.

By the end of the 1600s Te Kawerau ā Maki were particularly associated with West Auckland (known traditionally as Hikurangi), south-western Kaipara and the Upper Waitematā Harbour.

[10] Europeans arriving in the late 1700s and early 1800s brought epidemic diseases that weakened Te Kawerau ā Maki and other tribes that were living in the same area by then.

In 1825 Te Kawerau ā Maki suffered major losses at the hands of Ngāpuhi and they and other Auckland tribes went effectively into exile in the Waikato.

[2] Native reserves remained in a few isolated places - Piha, Waitākere (Te Henga), Kōprionui (southern Woodhill), Muriwai, Paremoremo, and around Mahurangi - however the last of these were forcibly taken by 1953 under the Public Works Act leaving the tribe effectively landless.

As part of this, amongst other activities, they organised the festival's official dawn ceremony launch at the Arataki Visitor Centre, a sound and light display on the Auckland Harbour Bridge, and an exhibition of their history at Te Uru Waitakere Contemporary Gallery.