For Maori communities, the Westland region was and is a vital source of food and resources due to tons of freshwater and a rich vegetation. Early Maori are believed to have settled near lakes, lagoons and rainforests where food and water was plenty. They traveled along the coast and digged through river mouths searching for greenstone. The region is home to the Ngāi Tahu, who are said to have walked the region's glaciers, peaks and forests first.
Maori term the South Island's west coast Te Tai Poutini ("The tides of Poutini"). The legend says that Poutini is the taniwha (water spirit) and kaitiaki (guardian) of the people and protects the mauri (life spirit) of pounamu (greenstone). According to the Ngāi Tahu, Poutini kidnapped a young woman named Waitaiki who was bathing near the island of Tūhua (Mayor Island). Tumaahua, her husband, followed them aiming to bring Waitaiki back to the North Island. Before he could reach Waitaiki, Poutini turned her into pounamu in the bed of the Arahua River and fled into the sea.
First settlers who came to Westland Tai Poutini were whalers and sealers. With the discovery of large mineral deposits, a short gold rush period from 1864 to 1865 brought thousands to the region. In fact, these parts of the west coast have some of the earliest gold-mining towns in New Zealand but most of the settlements turned into ghost towns soon after resources were exhausted. Tourism boomed in the early 1900s, due to efforts made by the Graham family guiding through Westland's unknown territory.
Further east, neighbouring Mount Cook National Park was established in 1953. Serving as an idol, it motivated the government to declare Westland Tai Poutini National Park as official seven years later. In 1990, it became part of the Unesco World Heritage area Te Wahipounamu (Land of the greenstone waters) in the southwest of New Zealand's South Island.