He ariki tapairu a Tāmairangi. He pakeke, he pakari, he ātaahua. I noho ia i te takiwā ki Te Moana-a-Raukawa i te whakamutunga o te rau tau 1700–1799, ki te tīmatanga o te rau tau 1800–1899. Ōna mātua ko Te Rōnaki rāua ko Kahukura-ā-Tāne. Nā ngā whakapapa o ana mātua ka heke iho a Tāmairangi i a Māhanga-pūhua o Ngāti Ira me Ngāi Tara, ā, i whai pānga anō ki a Ngāti Moe o Te Wairarapa me Ngāti Kahungunu. I whakanohoia a Māhanga-pūhua hei rangatira nui mō Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington Harbour) me te rohe o Pari-ā-rua (Porirua). Nā Te Rōnaki ka whanaunga atu a Tāmairangi ki a Ngāi Te Ao, ki a Rangitāne me Ngāti Kuia, i noho nei ki runga i te moutere o Arapawa kei te tapa marangai o Te Waipounamu.
I noho a Tāmairangi i te taha o ana mātua i Arapawa ā tae noa ki te wā i whakaritea me moe a ia i tētahi o ngā kaiārahi mana tiketike o Ngāti Ira i Pari-ā-rua e noho ana. Ka wehe mai a Tāmairangi i ana mātua ki tōna hoa tāne ki a Whanake. Tētahi o ana īngoa ko Te Huka-tai-o-Ruatapu. Ko Tāmairangi tana wahine mātāmua. I whakaarohia tokorua pea ā rāua tamariki, ko Whakaangi me Te Kēkerengū, e mōhiotia nei ko Taiaha. Kei ngā kōrero, ko Te Kēkerengū rāua ko tana pāpā ngā tino kaihautū o Ngāti Ira.
I noho a Tāmairangi rāua ko tana hoa rangatira ki Ōmanga-rau-tāwhiri kei te taha whakarunga o te kokorutanga o Tītahi. Ko te kāinga o Te Kēkerengū e tata ana ki Te Ana-paura kotahi māero te nukunga whakarunga anō. He mea tapa te ana i te taha whakarunga o te kāinga o Tāmairangi ki tōna īngoa, arā, ki Te Ana-a-Tāmairangi. Ka mutu ka whakaīngoatia te matatāhuna he nōhanga mātaitai i te tauranga waka moana o Pari-ā-rua ki tōna īngoa anō, ko Te Whata-kai-a-Tāmairangi.
He wahine mana nui a Tāmairangi. I hōrapa tōna mana i te rohe o Pari-ā-rua tae noa atu ki te mata o Mātakitaki-a-Kupe (Cape Palliser), ka whakawhiti atu ki te raki o Te Waipounamu. I ana haere, ka riro mā ngā kaiamo ia e kawe i runga i te whataamo – he tapu rawa nōna. Ka tae ki ngā huihui ka whakakākahuria ia ki ngā korowai whakaharahara e tika ana mō taua hui. Ka mau hoki i te taiaha whakairo.
I te tekau tau atu i 1820, ka urutomokia a Pari-ā-rua me Te Whanganui-a-Tara e Ngāti Toa o Kāwhia. Ngā kaiārahi o tēnei ope taua ko Te Rauparaha rāua ko tana irāmutu, ko Te Rangihaeata. I muri tata i a rātou ka whai atu ko Ngāti Tama me Ngāti Mutunga o Taranaki. Kāhore a Ngāti Ira me ōna hapū āwhina i hiahia ki te whakaoreore i tā rātou nohotahi ko ngā ope nāna rātou i urutomo, ko Ngāti Toa ki Pari-ā-rua, ko Ngāti Mutunga ki Te Whanganui-a-Tara. Ahakoa te manawarau o te rongomau, i tau tonu te rangimārie i ngā tau tuatahi. Otirā tērā anō ngā haututū, me ngā kōwhetewhete mō ā rātou mahinga kai, me ō rātou roherohenga. Heoi, i te takiwā ki te tau 1824, ka tae mai te āwangawanga ki a Te Poki, he rangatira nō Ngāti Mutunga, mō te āhua o tā rātou noho mō ngā rā kei mua i a rātou. Ka anga a ia ki te whakatakoto tikanga hei pakanga whakamate atu i a Ngāti Ira.
I tūpono ki te wā i haere ai a Tāmairangi ki te toro i ōna whanaunga i te taha rāwhiti o Te Whanganui-a-Tara, ka whakaekea nei e Ngāti Mutunga ngā rohe o Ngāti Ira. I te tōroa o te pakanga he tokomaha te iwi i patua. Ko Tāmairangi me ana tamariki me ngā mōrehu o tōna iwi i whakaruru atu ki runga i tētahi moutere iti, ko Tapu-te-ranga, kei te kokoru o Paekawakawa (Island Bay). I hangaia he pā me ngā pakitara kōhatu ki te taha rāwhiti o te toka matua. Te taenga mai o Ngāti Mutunga ki te tuki i te pā, ka utaina a Tāmairangi me ana tamariki ki runga waka hoe. Ka mawhiti atu ki te rā tō, ka taha atu i Rimurapa (Sinclair Head), ā, ka tae rātou ki Ōhariu. Heoi anō, i mau herehere rātou i tētahi rōpū ō Ngāti Mutunga.
Ka whakaaro a Tāmairangi tērā ia e whakamatea. Ka tono ia ki ngā rangatira o Ngāti Mutunga, kia tukuna ia kia poroporoaki ki ana whenua me tōna iwi. Ka waiata i tētahi waiata nāna anō i tito. Na, i te kaha pai o tana waiata, ka pupū te aroha i roto i a Te Rangihaeata. I tūpono tana toro atu i a Ngāti Mutunga i taua wā tonu. Kātahi ia ka tuku kupu ki a Tāmairangi me tōna whānau kia haere mai ki a ia. Māna rātou e awhi. Mauria ana rātou e ia ki te moutere o Kapiti.
Ko te tama ātaahua a Tāmairangi, a Te Kēkerengū, tētahi o ngā herehere i runga o Kapiti. Ka puta ngā whakapae nā Te Kēkerengū i hīanga tētahi o ngā wāhine a Te Rangihaeata. Mōhio tonu a Te Kēkerengū kei te whakatata mai te mate ki a ia me tōna whānau. Ka oma a Tāmairangi, a Te Kēkerengū me tō rāua iwi i Kapiti mā runga waka, ka whakawhiti i Te Moana-a-Raukawa ki te moutere o Arapawa, te kāinga tupu o Tāmairangi. Nō te taenga atu o ngā wawara taua o Ngāti Toa kei te urutomo haere i ngā rohe kei te tonga o Te Moana-a-Raukawa, ka hiki te ope a Tāmairangi ka whakaheke haere i Te Waipounamu.
Kāhore i te tino mārama ngā kōrero mō tēnei whānau o Ngāti Ira. He kōrero e kī ana, ko Tāmairangi, ko Te Kēkerengū me tō rāua iwi i patupatua i Kaikōura. Ko ētahi kōrero e kī ana i patua kētia i te pā o Kaiapoi. Ko te āhua nei i rapa whakaruru rātou i te taha o Ngāi Tahu i Kaikoura, ā, i patua tahi rātou ko Ngāi Tahu e Te Rauparaha me Ngāti Toa ki Ōtama-ā-kura, he pā torutoru nei ngā māero ki te tonga o Kaikōura, i te tau pea o 1828. Heoi, he nui tonu ngā kōrero nā Ngāi Tahu i patupatu a Tāmairangi me tōna iwi. He whakapae nā Ngāi Tahu tērā pea ko Tāmairangi rāua ko Te Kēkerengū te take o ngā whawhai, na, ka patua hei utu. He nui anō ngā tuhituhi i patua kētia te iwi nei ki tētahi kāinga nō muri nei ka karangahia ko Te Kēkerengū. E rua tekau māero ki te tonga o Te Karaka (Cape Campbell).
Ka mate atu a Tāmairangi me Te Kēkerengū ka ngaro atu hoki te mana tiketike o ngā ariki o Ngāti Ira. Ko ngā uri whakaheke kei Te Wairarapa, ko te whānau a Hēmi Te Miha. I heke iho i te moenga o Te Kēkerengū i a Tāwera.