Tērā pea nō te tau 1825, i whānau ai a Pāora Tūhaere. Ko Whanararei rāua ko Ātareta Tuha ōna mātua. Hei tuahine a Ātareta nō Āpihai Te Kawau. Nō te iwi o Ngāti Whātua, nō te hapū o Te Taoū mai ōna mātua.
I Horotiu ngā mahinga kai a Te Taoū. Ko tēnei wāhi i nāianei kei whakararo mai o Queen Street i te tāone o Ākarana (Auckland). E toru maioro atu i Horotiu, ko te kāinga o Tūhaere i Ōkahu, arā, kei Ōrākei. Kāore a Tūhaere i rite te toa ki tana pāpā ki a Whanararei. Nō te matenga o tōna matua kēkē o Āpihai Te Kawau, ko Tūhaere tā Ngāti Whātua i whakatū ai hei rangatira mō rātou. I te tau 1841, i haere a Tūhaere i te taha o Āpihai i te pōwhiritanga a tērā i te hunga Pākehā e whakatau ana ki Ākarana.
Taka noa te 30 tau, ko Tūhaere tonu e ngākau nui ana ki te pupuri i ngā whenua o Ngāti Whātua i Ōrākei. Ko te Kotahitanga i tēnei wā e whawhai ana kia mau tonu te mana Māori, ā, atu i te tekau tau mai i 1870 ko Tūhaere tō rātou tino kaihāpai. Whai noa ia i ēnei mahi me tana mau anō i tā Ngāti Whātua, pirihoanga ki te kāwanatanga, taupua hoki i te Karauna.
E tamariki tonu ana a Tūhaere ka iririhia ka tapaina ko Pāora. Nō te Hāhi Mihinare ia, ā, ko ia te kaiwhakarite, arā, te kaikauhau reimana i te kaupapa a te Hāhi i ngā huihui hapū ā-iwi hoki. I kaha ia ki te whakamutu atu i ngā mahi pakanga. I te tau 1844 ka peka atu a Tūhaere mē ētahi o Ngāti Whātua ki Whāngārei ki te hohou i te rongo. E 20 tau tēnei i muri i te kakaritanga a Te Kawau i te iwi o Te Parawhau i Whāngārei. I taua tau anō ko Tūhaere tonu i te hui o ngā rangatira ki a Kāwana Pitiroi (Robert FitzRoy) i Remuera i Ākarana. Hua noa ngā tono a te hui, he mea kōrerohia kīhai pākahatia. I te pakanga i te raki, he kaiwawao te mahi a Tūhaere, kei whakaekea hoki te tāone o Ākarana.
I te tekau tau mai i 1840 ko Tūhaere me ētahi o ngā rangatira o Ngāti Whātua i te hokohoko whenua atu ki te tāone o Ākarana, kua kaha nei te tipu mai. Ko Ōrākei atu ki te Manukau i hokona i te tau 1841. E rua ngā hua whenua o Te Waitematā i riro i te tau 1848. I te tau 1854 nāna i hoko a Pukapuka nama 2 o te poraka whenua o Tāmaki mō te £500. Tika kē me i hokona anō te whenua nei, ka tohaina tekau paiheneti o taua hua hei whakatū wharekura, hōhipera, mira hoki mō ngā Māori. I te tau 1856 ko Onewherowhero i Te Waitematā i hokona e Tūhaere mō te £25. Ēngari kua ātete te Māori ki ngā mahi hokohoko whenua nei. Ka pau te tekau tau ko te Kīngitanga e karanga ana kia whakakorea rawa atu te mahi hoko whenua. Ahakoa kāore a Ngāti Whātua nō te Kīngitanga, i whakaū rātou ki te pupuri i te toenga o ō rātou whenua.
I te marama o Hūrae 1860 ka tū te hui a te kāwanatanga ki Kohimaramara (Kohimarama), pātata atu ki Ōrākei. Huia katoa e 200 ngā rangatira, ā, ko Tūhaere anō i reira. He tūmanako nō te kāwana, nō Thomas Gore Browne kia tere tautokohia e te hui ngā pakanga atu a te kāwanatanga ki a Taranaki mē te Kīngitanga, ka kōrero ia mō ngā painga ake o te Tiriti o Waitangi. I ngā whakahokihoki, ko Tūhaere tētahi i kī 'Kāore he hē o te Tiriti. He tino kūare tonu nō tērā wā, kīhai te tangata i whāiro. Ko Ngāpuhi tonu tētahi. Mehemea rātou i mātua pupuri tonu ki te mana o te Kuini kua kore rātou e poka noa, e whai i muri i tō rātou rangatira i a Hōne Heke he whakatutū puehu te mahi. Ka whakararu anō ia i ērā ō rātou i haina haere i te Tiriti he wāhi kē i tua atu i Waitangi. Ki te whakaaro a Tūhaere, mātua kē mā ngā rangatira katoa o te motu, te Tiriti e wānanga. 'Ēngari tēnei, he hui nā ngā kāhui rangatira, kātahi te tauhere tika mō te mana o te Kuini.'
Nā tēnei hui i hanga mai te Kawenata o Kohimaramara. He whakataurangi tēnei i te tangata kia piripono tonu ki te mana o te Kuini. Kātahi a Tūhaere ka whakahē i te Kīngitanga, arā, he kaupapa manawa rere, kore kiko hoki. Ēngari i tūpato tonu a Tūhaere mā ki te whakaputa whakahē motuhake mō taua kaupapa. Nā te mea ki tā Tūhaere me mau tonu te mana Māori. Mehemea koinā te kaupapa o te Kīngitanga, kāti ki a ia, kāore he rerekētanga ki tā te Karauna.
He mura mai nō te ahi i Waikato i mua i taua pakanga i 1863, mānukanuka noa te noho o te iwi o Ākarana i taua wā. He hiahia tonu nōna kia tīmatahia he mahi hokohoko i waenga i ngā Māori me ngā iwi o te moutere o Rarotonga me ērā atu o te tai tonga ō Te Moananui-a-Kiwa, ka hokona e ia te kaipuke te Victoria. Nō te 26 o Pēpuere i rewa atu ai ki Rarotonga a Tūhaere mē tana iwi, e 21 katoa rātou. I reira ka whakarangatiratia ia. I tō rātou hokinga mai he taro, he hua rākau te utanga, ā, i haria mai anō he manuhiri ko Kainuku Tamoko tōna īngoa. Haere ake ai, e kōpiko atu ana a Ngāti Whātua ki ērā, e kōpiko mai ana ērā ki ēnei, tūhonohono ana rātou i a rātou.
Nō te matenga o Āpihai Te Kawau i te tau 1868, ka riro ko Tūhaere hei rangatira mō Ngāti Whātua. He tino mātau a Tūhaere ki ngā mahi kāwanatanga me ngā whakapā iho o te ture. Kīhai i rite atu a Hira Te Kawau, te tama a Āpihai, ki a ia mō ēnei āhua. He taunga a Tūhaere ki te Pākehā, ā, ko ia te āteha mō te rohe o Ākarana. I te tau 1867 ka whakaritea ko ia hei kaitohutohu ki te kaiwhakahaere mō ngā take Māori i runga i te rōpū kaiwhakahaere mō te porowini o Ākarana (Auckland Provincial Executive). I te tau 1869 ka whakataungia e te kāwanatanga 13 ngā kaitiaki hei pupuri i te mana o Ōrākei marae. Ā, ko Tūhaere tētahi o ngā kaitiaki. Huihui tonu te noho mai o Ngāti Whātua ki Ōrākei, ā, ko te hiahia o Tūhaere mā te iwi tonu e pupuri ō rātou whenua. Kīhai ia mō te wāwāhi riro noa te whenua i te takitahi. Kia āhei ai ngā kaitiaki ki te rīhi, te whakawehe whenua rānei hei kāinga noho, ko te Ōrākei Native Reserve Act tāna i tāhuna ai i te tau 1882. Mahere noa ia ki te whakanohonoho i a Ngāti Whātua, ka haukotia ake ana whakaaro e te kāwana. I te tau 1886 ka tangohia a Takaparawhā (Bastion Point) hei wawao mā te kāwanatanga me ka tū mai he pakanga. Kīhai i kaha te ture o Tūhaere o 1882 ki te whakakore i te wāwāhitanga o te whenua. I te matenga atu o Tūhaere ka tohatohatia te whenua ki ngā kaitiaki me ō rātou uri.
Atu i te tekau tau mai i 1870 hui tonu a Tūhaere whakatū hui rānei hei whakaatu ki te kāwanatanga i ngā āwangawanga a te iwi. Mahara tonu ia kia kotahi te iwi, ā, i te tau 1869, ka tono ia i te kāwanatanga kia whakaarahia anō te hui o Kohimaramara. Kīhai i whakaaea. E tekau tau i muri mai, he ngākau pōuri nōna ki ngā mahi a te kāwanatanga, ka tū i a ia he hui nui ki Ōrākei hei kōrero i te Tiriti o Waitangi. Whakahāngai tonu a Tūhaere ko ngā whakarite tonu o te Tiriti kia kōrerohia, kia kitea mehemea kei te whai mana tonu, kei te manakore rānei. Hui anō rātou i ngā tau 1880, 1881. Kātahi ka tupu te whakaaro mā te Pāremata Māori e whakahaere ngā mahi a te Kōti Whenua Māori, ā, kia noho ake hei rōpū whakahaere mō te iwi. Whakahauhautia e Tūhaere te take nei, ā, tautokohia mai ana e te nuinga o te iwi. Ahakoa hui ai te Pāremata i te tekau tau mai i 1890, he āwhina kore mai nō te kāwanatanga, pupau noa te kaha ki te hui anō, mate noa te take nei.
Nō te mea he kaingārahu ia nō te Kotahitanga ka pōtingia ia i te tau 1888 ki tētahi komiti, hei whakaatu atu i ngā take Māori ki te kāwanatanga. Manako tonu ia me mau tonu te kāwanatanga ki ngā whakataunga o te Tiriti, me te whakamahi atu i ngā toenga whenua a te Māori, hei tūāpapa e puta ai he hua mō rātou. Taunga noa ia ki te noho a te Māori i raro i te ture Pākehā, he aha hoki te mea e pahure me ka pakanga. I muri i ngā rīriri o te tekau tau mai i 1860 kaha tonu ia ki te whakatau i ngā riri i waenganui i te Kīngitanga me te kāwanatanga. I te tau 1882 i te hui a rātou ki Whatiwhatihoe, nā Tūhaere te whakatenatena ki a Tāwhiao kia mutu te mōriroriro. Kāore i roa i muri mai, huri noa a Tāwhiao i Te Ika-a-Māui hui haere ai, karanga noa ki a Ingarangi ki te whakamana tonu i te Māori ki ōna whenua. I te tau 1884 ka haere a Tāwhiao mā ki te mau atu i tā rātou pitihana ki Ingarangi, ā, mehemea kāore ia i pāpāngia e te mate e haere ana hoki a Tūhaere.
Tokorua ngā wāhine i moea e Tūhaere. Ko Tūpanapana tō mua, ko Hārata tō muri. Hei mokopuna a Tūpanapana nā Te Wharerahi, te rangatira mai o Ngāpuhi. I te 12 o Maehe 1892 ka mate a Tūhaere ka mahue ake ko Hārata rāua ko tana tamāhine ko Mere. E 200 ngā tāngata i tōna tangihanga. Ki te whaikōrero a Tāwhiao, mutu atu ngā koroheke i a Tūhaere. Ka kī anō ia māna e kawe te tūranga o Tūhaere. Ahakoa te nui o ōna pānga whenua ki Ōrākei kīhai ia i mahi wira. I whai kē ia kia noho tōpū tonu te whenua mā te iwi. I tāpuketia a Tūhaere ki Ōrākei, ka hangaia he kōhatu whakamaharatanga ki a ia. E rua ngā kōrero tuhituhinga i mahue ake i a ia. Ko te whare taonga o Ākarana (Auckland Institute and Museum) kei te pupuri i tana hītori o ngā iwi o Ngāti Whātua. Ko 'He tatau-kōrero mō te raupatutanga o Kaipara me Tāmaki i a Ngāti-Whātua' nō te tau 1923 i tāia ki te Journal of the Polynesian Society.