Three of the Waikato kuias, from left, Miss Rua Katipa, Mrs Mahara and Mrs Tiamana Rua little settlement and its church. ‘Rapaki was founded by a Ngaitahu explorer named Te Rangiwhakaputa, who on landing from his canoe on the foreshore, took off his rapaki, his waist mat, and laid it on the ground as his claim to the area. The full name of the settlement is Te Rapaki o Te Rangiwhakaputa. When he moved on to claim other areas, he left his son Wheke to establish the settlement, and his name is commemorated in the name Te Wheke given to the hall and marae. ‘In 1948, the Maori Reserve of Rapaki, comprising 850 acres, was set aside, and ownership granted to about 70 people. ‘The Christian message was first preached to the South Island Maoris in 1839 by Taawao, and in 1844 the Wesleyan Mission Staff in New Zealand recommended that a Maori Mission be established at Rapaki, Part of the congregation outside the church