Ko te whakaaro nō te whakamutunga o te rau tau 1700–1799 ka whānau a Te Whakataupuka ki Murihiku, ki te pito o Te Waipounamu. I ērā wā ko tōna tipuna ko Te Hau-tapunui-o-Tū nō Ngāi Tahu te takawaenga nāna i hohou te rongo ki waenga i a Ngāi Tahu rāua ko Ngāti Māmoe. Ko tōna matua, ko Honekai te rangatira o Ōue kāinga i te takiwā ki Oreti (New River) i Te Ara-a-Kiwa (Foveaux Strait). Ka moe i a Kohuwai mokopuna a Raki-ihia rangatira o Ngāti Māmoe; ko Murikauhaka te kāinga i te koniu o te awa o te Matāu (Clutha). Ka moe a Te Whakataupuka i a Rauaru ka puta ko Tūteraki Pauwa rāua ko Koroko (Golok). Nā te tuahine o Te Whakataupuka, nā Kura ko tērā o ngā rangatira ko Tūhawaiki.
Nō ngā tau e potapotae ana ki 1825 ka hemo te rangatira o Ruapuke, a Tūpai i moe rā i tētahi o ngā whāea o Te Whakataupuka. Nō taua wā ka tūpono te hiki atu o Te Whakataupuka ki Ruapuke noho ai. Ko te puanga tēnei o te hau o tōna rongo. I te tau 1826 ka haere ia i te taha i a Edwin Palmer ki te patu kekeno i te ngutu awa o te Taieri. I te riri Kaihuānga i te tau 1827 i huri tonu iho a Ngāi Tahu ki a rātou anō i Ngā Pākihi-whakatekateka-a-Waitaha (Canterbury Plains). Ka aratakina e Te Whakataupuka ana toa o Murihiku ki Waihora (Lake Ellesmere) kia hono atu hei tuarā mō te taua a Taiaroa rangatira o Taumutu, o Ōtākou. Ko te tuahine o Taiaroa ko Te Parure tētahi o rātou. Ka riro ko Te Whakataupuka te kaingārahu o taua ope i te pakanga i waho i te moana i Akaroa.
He maha ōna īngoa – ki ngā kaipatu kekeno ko 'Old Wig' he rite pea nō ana makawe ki ō ngā kekeno; ki tā John Boultbee te kaipatu kekeno, te kaituhi pukapuka rā taka, ko Tarbuka, ko Tarboka rānei. I tūtaki rāua i te hokinga mai o Te Whakataupuka i Akaroa i te tau 1827. Ki tana titiro, 34 nei pea ngā tau o te tangata nei i taua wā; mutunga mai o te kaha, o te hihiri, o te huatau o tērā tangata i tōna kotahi. Ehara i te tangata purotu, ēngari he tangata koi te hinengaro, he tangata māhaki; e 5 putu 10 īnihi te tāroaroa, he makatika. Ka mātakitakina e te tangata. Ki ngā Pākehā, he kaiwhakamarumaru, he tangata pū mahara, ā, i raro anō i ngā here o tōna tūranga rangatira he tangata ngahau. Waihoki ko ia tētahi o ngā tino hoa o te Pākehā, ko ia tō rātou whakawhirinakitanga atu. Ko Whenuahou (Codfish Island) te nohoanga tuatahi o ngā Pākehā ki tērā takiwā. Ahakoa i mate tana tama nohinohi, a Koroko, ki reira i te tau 1827, ka whakamaua e ia kia tina te noho kore wehi a ngā Pākehā.
He tangata kī tahi, he tangata pākaha, ā, he tangata tōkeke hoki i āna mahi katoa ki tana iwi. Ka taka te wā ka patua e ia te wahine a tētahi tangata nō te mea i takahia e taua tangata ngā manaakitanga a Te Whakataupuka. I Taumutu i te tau 1833 pea nei, he uaua te kaupare i tōna hiahia ki te patu i te iwi kāinga o Ngāi Tahu i reira. Nō te mea i ngā tukinga a Te Rauparaha i Kaiapoi, i te Ōnawe, pātata atu rā ki Akaroa, ko ōna whanaunga i parekuratia, ka ora ko ērā.
Nā reira e ongaonga tonu ana i tō rāua haerenga koTaiaroa ki Oraumoa-nui, te pakanga ki a Te Rauparaha i Te Koho-a-Kupe (Cloudy Bay). I ngā rā o Maehe ka pāhuatia te kaipuke, a te Harlequin; ka tukia e rātou ngā teihana patu tohorā i reira. I Hūrae 1834, ka whakaekea ko tā Joseph rāua ko Edward Weller i Ōtākou. Ka āpititia, ka whakamātauria kia eke ki ngā kaipuke e mānu ana i reira. Ka pānuitia ki ngā nūpepa o Poihākena (Sydney) ki te Sydney Herald i te marama o Oketopa: 'ko Te Whakataupuka tētahi o ngā rangatira tino weriweri rawa atu. Ā, he kaitangata whakarihariha.'
I tā rātou waitaua ki te tai whakararo he mau pū katoa ngā toa a Te Whakataupuka. He pū hoki tētahi wāhanga o te utu mō Dusky Sound me Rakituma (Preservation Inlet) i te hokonga atu ki a Peter Williams i te 9 o Noema 1832. Nā tāna whakamaunga hoki i tōna moko ki te kirimini ka pūmau te ahikā a Williams ki aua whenua mai i te tau 1829. Heoi kua mate kē a Te Whakataupuka ka oti pai ka tūturu i aTūhawaiki te tuku i te mana ki a Williams.
Ko te kōrero i mauria mai ētahi mate tauhou ki tēnei whenua e ngā tangata o runga i ngā kaipuke; i te Sydney Packet tonu. Ka horahia ki Murihiku te mate urutā, te mate karawaka. Ko te whakaaro i pā ērā mate ki a Te Whakataupuka. Kāore e mōhiotia ana nōnahea ia i mate ai. Heoi anō kua mate kē atu ia i mua i Tīhema o te tau 1835.
Ko ia rā a Te Whakataupuka – te rangatira aporei o Te Ara-a-Kiwa i te wā i huri ai ngā whakaaro o te Pākehā mai i te patu tohorā ki te noho tūturu ki konei. Nā tōna atawhai i te hunga i tae tuatahi atu ai ki te rohe o tōna rangatiratanga, ka tahuri atu rātou ki a ia hei whakaruruhau, hei whakawhirinakitanga, hei whakangākautanga mō rātou. Na, ki tōna iwi ake, ko ia tō rātou amorangi kawe a riri pūmau. Ko tana i āki ai, he niwha, he autaia. Tō te rangatira tōna hanga! Ko ia tonu te tumu here i ngā iwi e rua i pai ai te noho i Te Ara-a-Kiwa. I muri i a ia ka tau iho te kaupapa mā Tūhawaiki e pīkau.