Ko Manaia, he rangatira nō Ngāti Ruanui, nō Ngāti Tū. Ko tō rātou whenua tupu ko ngā mānia o Waimate ki te tonga o Taranaki, he whenua e takoto ana i waenganui o ngā awa o Īnaha me Ōtākeho. Kāore e mōhiotia ana ngā īngoa o ana mātua; ā, nō nahea rānei ia i whānau ai.
Nō te tomokanga mai o Waikato ki te pakanga ki a Taranaki, ka kitea te toa o Manaia. Nāna i taki tōna iwi ki te maunga o Taranaki hei punanga mō rātou i ngā tau 1820–1840. Ka taka ki te marama o Mei 1834 ka pāhuatia e rātou te kaipuke, a te Harriet, i pae ka pakaru ki te takiwā ki Ikaroa (Cape Egmont). Taukuri rā ia! Te tauhou o ngā kai me ngā taputapu o runga i taua kaipuke! I pōhēhē rātou he kirikiri te parāoa pūrere. Ā, kātahi ka tunua te hopi hei kai! Anā te raru!
Nō te tau 1836 ka hono atu ia ki a Te Matakātea i te pā o Waimate i te wahapū o Kapuni, ka kauparea atu a Waikato. E ai ki ōna uri nā te mea he tangata whakaaio whenua kē ia, kāore ia i whawhai. Heoi, ki a Te Kāhui, i tū atu ia i te rangi o te pā puhipuhi iho ai i ētahi o ngā kaiāpiti.
Ka tau te rangimārie, ka noho a Manaia ki te pā i Te Kauae. Kāore he kōrero iriiri a ngā mihinare mōna, ēngari i te mea ko Wiremu tōna īngoa tērā pea i iriirihia anō kē ia. Kīhai anō hoki ia i uru ki ngā whawhai o ngā tau mai i 1860. I te tau 1866, ka whakahauraro tahi rāua ko Hōne Pīhama ki te kāwanatanga. Nō te marama o Pēpuere 1867, ka tūtaki rāua ko Arthur Atkinson ki Te Kauae. E ai ki a Atkinson kātahi rawa te tangata atawhai ko Manaia.
I ngā pakanga a Tītokowaru o 1868–69, ka ngana a Manaia kia mau te rongo. I te kāhakitanga a ngā tāngata a Tītokowaru i ngā hōiho o ngā hōia a Rūtene Kānara Thomas McDonnell mai i tō rātou hōpuni i Waihī, kāore i taea e Manaia te whakahokihoki. Nō te marama o Oketopa 1869, i muri i te whawhai ki a Tītokowaru, ka tūtaki a Manaia ki a Te Pāriha (Robert Parris), te kōmihana ā-iwi (civil commissioner). Ka tahuri atu ia ka paheko ki te hanga i te rori tōtō kāta i ngā mānia o Waimate. Ora atu ia nā te nui o te rīwai, o te pua otaota hei hoko māna. Nā reira, kāore āna whai ki ngā takoha mai a te kōmihana ā-iwi a Meiha Charles Brown ki a ia. Ko ērā takoha hei utu mō te taiepatanga i ngā whenua rāhui, kia piki ake ai te ora o tōna iwi.
Ka tautohetia ngā mānia o Waimate e ngā hunga pūwhenua i ngā tau tōmua mai i 1880, ka kitea anō te māhaki o Manaia. Mahi ake nei te kairūri whenua, a Harry M. Skeet, i raro i tōna maru. Ko te takoha a Skeet ko te tapanga i te tāone ki a Manaia, e tū tonu mai rā i nāianei. Ahakoa ngā mahi a Te Whiti-o-Rongomai III ki te taki i tana iwi kia whakamutua ngā mahi rūri whenua, ka mea tonu a Manaia kaua noa hei māharahara ngā hunga pūwhenua. I te pāhuatanga o Parihaka e ngā hōia i te marama o Noema 1881, ka patua e Manaia e waru ngā kau hei whāngai i te iwi kua marara. Nāna anō hoki te moni taurangi i tukuna mai ai a Tītokowaru i te whare herehere i te marama o Hūrae 1882.
I te tau 1880 i ana tono ki ngā kōmihana o Te TaiHauāuru mō ōna whenua, tukuna kē ana e ia ko Te Pāriha hei wahakōrero mōna. Ka taka ki ngā tau 1882, 1883, ka tukuna mai he whenua ki a rātou ko tana iwi o Ngāti Tū. He pukapuka whakaū i te mana whenua (Crown Grant), e 5,944 eka i Kaūpokonui. Ko te koha a tana iwi ki a Manaia, ko te whare i hangaia ki Waiōkura i te tau 1887, ko Parakau te īngoa.
Ko te tū a Manaia, ko te tū a te rangatira. He tangata tāroaroa, he kokau te tū. E taitama ana anō ka tāia ki te moko. Kāore ōna uri ake. Tērā atu ētahi o tōna ake whānau, he tāne katoa. Kāore i te mōhiotia ko wai te tuakana, te teina rānei. Ko ō rātou īngoa ko Kato Ruka, ko Ngātairākaunui me Ngonge Ngonge. Ko ngā uri o ēnei rā e hono whakapapa atu ana ki a Manaia i heke mai i a Ngātairākaunui me Ngonge Ngonge. Nō te tau 1892 i mate ai a Manaia.