At the time of Contact, Pender Island was inhabited by Coast Salish peoples speaking the North Straits Salish language. There is an Indian Reserve at Hay Point on South Pender Island, which is home to members of the Tsawout and Tseycum First Nations.The Poets Cove Resort was built on an ancient First Nations village site. The provincial government's 2007 settlement with theTsawwassen First Nation included hunting and fishing rights on and around Pender Island—an arrangement to which the Sencot'en Alliance objected, saying those rights are theirs under the 1852 Douglas Treaty.
Sencot'en place names on Pender Island (st̕ey̕əs) include ʔiləčən (Bedwell Harbour), and x̣ʷəl̕isən̕ (Port Browning).
On North Pender Island: šxʷsəɬqʷsət (Shark Cove), x̣ʷəx̣ʷiʔéčsəŋ (Shingle Bay), kʷeqsən (Stanley Point), kʷeqsən (Boat Nook),təlasəŋ̕ (Hope Bay), sq̕ʷəq̕ʷiŋ̕əs (Oaks Bluff), q̕eʔƛ̕əŋ or sq̕eʔəƛ̕əm (Otter Bay), and x̣ʷiʔx̣ʷnəčénəm or sx̣ʷix̣ʷθəʔ(Wallace Point).
On South Pender Island: sk̕ʷən̕enxʷ (Gowlland Point), and smanəč (Teece Point).
A Spanish expedition led by Francisco de Eliza visited Pender in 1791, naming it "Ysla de San Eusevio". The islands, along with Pender Harbour on the Sunshine Coast, were given their current name by Captain Richards for Staff Commander, later Captain, Daniel Pender, RN who surveyed the coast of British Columbia aboard HMS Plumper, HMS Hecate and the Beaver from 1857 to 1870.The first permanent resident of European descent arrived on South Pender Island in
