I whānau a Hēnare Pōtae i ngā tau i muri mai i 1820. Ko tēnei tangata nō ngā kāwai rangatira o Te Whānau-a-Ruataupare o roto o Ngāti Porou. Ko tana matua ko Te Pōtaeaute, e mōhiotia ana anō ko Ēnoka Pōtae, nāna nei i whakamau tana tohu ki te Tiriti o Waitangi i Tokomaru i te 9 o Hune 1840. Ko tōna whaea ko Mākere Te Materonea, he wahine rangatira nō Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti. I te tau 1854 ka mate tana tuakana, a Tama Whakanehua (ko Tāmati Wāka tētahi o ōna īngoa), ka ara ko Hēnare tētahi o ngā tino kaihautū mō te iwi. Ko tana tino kāenga ko Tuatini kai roto o Tokomaru.
Ka tae ki te wā i whakawhānuitia ai e te Kāwana Hōri Kerei (George Grey) ana tikanga rūnanga ki roto i Te Tai Rāwhiti, ka whakaritea i te tau 1862 ko Hēnare Pōtae hai āteha. Ko te tino take i whāia e ia, he aukati i ngā huarahi āwhina, tautoko hoki i te Kīngitanga. Ka tohe ia kia kauaka a Ngāti Porou e whakauru ki ngā ope taua a Waikato. Pērā anō ngā whakaaro o tana rahinga ki te raki. Nō muri i te hinganga o te Kīngitanga, nō te tau 1865, i tae atu ai te tikanga a te Pai Mārire ki roto i Te Tai Rāwhiti. Ka tae atu te poropiti a Pātara Raukatauri, ka whai atu wētahi o Ngāti Porou ka noho wehewehe taupatupatu te iwi, ka pakaru te pakanga ki waenga i a rātau. Ka mahi a Pōtae ki te whakapakari i tōna pā i Te Māwhai, i roto o Tokomaru. Ka toe mai ko ana whanaunga tata anake hai whai i ana tohutohu. Ko te nuinga o ngā iwi o Tokomaru i huri katoa ki te Pai Mārire, ka whakatūngia tō rātau pā ko Pukepapa. Ka whakapau a Pōtae i tana kaha kia hinga ngā Hauhau. Ka tukuna mai e te kāwanatanga ngā pū. Ka takahi atu ia ki roto o Ngāti Porou ki te rapa, ki te whakahiato tāngata hai āwhina i a ia ki te whawhai i te hunga Hauhau. I a ia ka wehe atu i Te Māwhai, ka whakaeke mai ngā Hauhau. Heoi, ahakoa te itiiti o ngā kaiwawao, ka whiua te hoariri. I te hokinga mai o Pōtae ka tono ki a Rāpata Wahawaha kia haere mai ki te āwhina i a ia. Nā rāua tahi i patu, ka mate ngā Hauhau, ka riro mai i a rāua te pā o Pukepapa. Ka peia te hunga o Te Whānau-a-Ruataupare i huri ki te Hauhau, me kī e 50 ngā tāne me ā rātau whānau. Ka rere ki roto o Tūranga (Gisborne) ki a Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki, ki reira whakapeke ai. Kātahi ka huri ki Ūawa (Tolaga Bay), ki ngā Hauhau i Pākura. I te taenga mai o Rāpata me tana ope o Te Aowera, ka tino mate rawa ngā Hauhau, ka whakarērea tō rātau pā i Tahutahupō ka rere patiko ki Tūranganui-a-Kiwa (Poverty Bay).
Ka whāia e Pōtae ngā mōrehu manene ki Waerenga-a-Hika, ka tono kia tukuna mai ki a ia. Kāore i whakaae te hunga kāenga. Nō muri mai ka hinga a Waerenga-a-Hika; i te tiaki mai kē a Pōtae me tana ope i Tūranga. Ko te hunga i mau herehere i Waerenga-a-Hika i puritia ki Tūranga; ko wētahi i panaia ki Rēkohu, arā, ko Wharekauri (Chatham Islands). Mutu ana ngā pakanga ka hokihoki ngā iwi ki Tokomaru. Ka whakawhāiti ngā whānau ki ō rātau kāenga, mahue tahanga ana te takiwā o waenga o te rohe. Ko ngā Hauhau i mahue mai i tonoa ki te rohe o Anaura i te raki.
Nō te 10 o Hūrae 1868, ka ū mai a Te Kooti me tana ope ki Tūranganui-a-Kiwa. I oma mai rātau i Wharekauri. Ka tū anō he pakanga. Ka tae ki te wā i whakaekengia ai e Te Kooti te tāone o Tūranga, i reira anō a Pōtae me tana ope. Mō te wā poto nei i a Pōtae te mana whakahaere o ngā kaiwawao o te tāone. I ngā tau i muri mai ka whāia haeretia a Te Kooti e ngā kūpapa. Ko Pōtae tonu tētahi i ngā tūnga teitei. I haere rātau ki roto o Tūhoe, ki Horoeka, ki Maraetahi, ngā pā whakaruru i a Te Kooti. Hinga tahi ēnei pā. I te 1 o Hepetema 1871, i Te Hāpua, ka porotakahia e ngā ope e whā te hopuni kōpae a Te Kooti, tata tonu ia ka mau. Nō tana omanga ki te Rohe Pōtae whakapeke ai, ka mutu ngā pakanga i roto o Te Urewera.
I runga i te toa i te māia o Pōtae ki te āwhina i te kāwanatanga i ngā pakanga, ka whakawhiwhia ia ki wētahi pānga whenua i Tūranga. I te tau 1869 ka whakatūria ko ia hai Āteha Matua. Ko tana utu, e £50 i te tau. Ka riro ko ia hai tiaki i te iwi o tana rohe kia kore e raru i te ture. Ko ia anō hei āwhina i te kaiwhakawā takiwā mō tērā rohe, ā, he whānui tonu tōna mana motuhake. Atu i te tau 1870, nāna i rīhi mō te wā roa wētahi whenua kaitā tonu i Tokomaru, ki te Pākehā hai whakatipu hipi. Nāna anō hoki i whakangāwari ngā whakahaere hai whakature i wētahi atu pānga whenua i raro i te mana o te Kōti Whenua Māori. Ā, kore rawa atu ia i whakaae ki te kaupapa a te Whakahētanga Hoko Whenua (Repudiation Movement), i mea nei ki te whakahē i ngā hokohoko whenua a te Karauna me wētahi atu, i ngā tekau tau mai i te 1870. I ngā tau 1875 me 1876 ka pitihanatia e Pōtae te pōtitanga i a Karaitiana Takamoana hai Mema Pāremata mō Te Tai Rāwhiti. I hua ia kāore i tika ngā whakahaere o te pōti, heoi tū tonu a Karaitiana. I te pōwhiritanga i a Tā Hōri Kerei i te tau 1878 ki te marae i Te Poho-o-Rāwiri ko Pōtae tonu te tino kaikōrero. I taua tau rā anō ka tū ia i Waerenga-a-Hika ki te whakatūpato i ngā iwi o Tūranganui-a-Kiwa kia kauaka e kōrerorero, e whakawhitiwhiti whakaaro rānei, ki a Te Kooti.
I moe a Hēnare Pōtae i a Tepora Kahukino, ka puta ko Wiremu Hēnare Pōtae te tama, ko Keriana te tamāhine. Ko tana tāne tuatahi ko te tama a Hirini Te Kani ko Karauria, ko Hoani Te Whatahoro Jury tana tāne tuarua. Tērā atu anō ngā wāhine a Pōtae ēngari kāore ērā i whai uri. Ko Hāriata tētahi. Tērā pea ko ia tētahi i tū atu ki te hoariri i Te Māwhai i te tau 1865. He maha ngā tau i noho ai a Pōtae i roto i te Hāhi Mihinare. Heoi nō te tau 1884 ka iriirihia ia, tana tama, a Wiremu, me tana whanaunga, a Hōne Te Whāia, ki te Hāhi Mōmona.
Nō te tau 1895 i te 5 o Oketopa, ka mate a Hēnare Pōtae i Kaitī, i roto o Tūranga. Ka tangihia i Tokomaru, ka tāpukena ki te taha o tana matua i te urupā i Tuatini.