 In March 1828 Richard "Dicky" Barrett (1807–47) set up a trading post at Ngamotu after arriving on the trading vessel "Adventure".Barrett and his companions were welcomed by Te Āti Awa tribe, who realised that the Europeans, with their muskets and cannon, could assist in their continuing wars with Waikato Maori, as well as providing cloth, food and utensils.Following a bloody encounter at Ngamotu (Moturoa) in 1832, most of the 2000 Āti Awa living near Ngamotu ( migrated south to the Kapiti region and Marlborough, leaving about 300 to live on the newly fortified Moturoa and Mikotahi, two of the Sugar Loaf Islands west of Ngamotu.