Ripapa Island, also known locally as Ripa Island, just off the shore of Lyttelton Harbour (Whakaraupo) has played many roles in the history of New Zealand. The island initially played a key role in an internal struggle for the south island Ngāi Tahu tribe in the early 19th Century. In the late 19th century the island was used as a quarantine station for ships arriving from Britain, though 1880 saw the use of the quarantine buildings as a prison, notably for members of the Parihaka Māori settlement in Taranaki during its passive resistance campaign against the surveying and selling of its land by the government.