The original Māori name for Port Chalmers was or which may have indicated the hill where the , or altar, was sited. is a later name meaning ‘full tide’ and refers to an incident in which a group of warriors decided to spend the night in a cave that once existed at what was later known as Boiler Point and pulled their canoes well above the high tide mark. Overnight the tide rose and beached canoes were set adrift. As some of them swam out to reclaim the canoes those onshore cried out “Koputai!, Koputai!” When a peace was made between Kāti Māmoe and Kāi Tahu, about 1780, Koputai was one of two southern terminuses of Kāi Tahu territory. The chiefs Karetai, Te Matenga Taiaroa and Tuhawaiki and other Māori frequented Koputai.