Ko Tiakitai he rangatira rongonui, whai mana, nō Ngāti Kahungunu o Waimārama wāhi ki Te Matau-a-Māui (Hawke's Bay). I heke mai i a Te Whatuiāpiti, i a Te Ūpokoiri. Ko tōna hapū ake ko Ngāti Kurukuru. I Waimārama tō rātau kāinga. Hei karangatanga tipuna anō hoki a Hāwea ki a ia.
I te tīmatanga o te rau tau 1800–1899, ka tū te riri i waenga i a Ngāti Te Whatuiāpiti rāua ko Ngāi Te Ūpokoiri o Heretaunga atu ki te taha whakararo o Rangitīkei, arā ki Pātea. Ahakoa hei karangarua ērā ki a ia, i tiaki tonu ia i tōna rahinga ki Waimārama. I te matenga mai o tētahi o rātau, ka tukuna atu tāna taua ngaki mate, ka patua ko Tākaha i Ōtāwhao i te taha whakauta o Waipāwa.
Nō te tau 1823 pea, ka tūhono ngā taua a Tiakitai rāua ko Te Pareihe ki tā Te Hauwaho o Ngāti Te Whatuiāpiti anō, ki te taua a Te Wera Hauraki o Ngāpuhi. Ka nohoia e rātou te pā i Te Roto-a-Tara, pātata atu ki Te Aute. Ka inoi atu a Tiakitai ki a Te Wera kia āwhinatia mai rātou ki te ngaki i te mate o tana tamaiti, o Pani, i mākuturia e te hunga o Pōrangahau. Ka tukia a Wiremu Te Pōtangaroa me tōna hapū o Te Ika-a-Papauma i te tahamoana ki Ākitio ki Rangiwhakaoma (Castlepoint). Nā Tiakitai tonu i patu tētahi o ngā tamāhine a Te Pōtangaroa, me te rangatira, me Pato, me te 50 atu anō. Ko tētahi o ngā tamāhine a Pōtangaroa, ko Hinerohi, i tukuna.
E whawhai whakapāpā haere ana a Tiakitai me tana ope o Ngāpuhi i te raki o Te Wairarapa. Ka mutu, ka hoki rātau ki Te Roto-a-Tara, ka pā te rongo kei te takatū te taua a Ngāi Te Ūpokoiri me ō rātau haumi. Ka rewa te hokowhitu a Tiakitai rātau ko Te Pareihe me Te Wera mā, ka karawhiua te hoariri i Te Whiti-o-Tū i te awa o Waipāwa, he wāhi tū tata atu ki Tikokino. E pakanga mai ana ērā, e rērere ana ētahi o ngā herehere i Te Roto-a-Tara. Ko te kōrero nō Te Wairarapa aua herehere, i maumau mai i a Ngāpuhi. Tokorua he wāhine. Ko Te Mātahi, nō muri mai ka karangahia ko Ani, rāua ko Hineiaurua. Tokorua i rere ki Waimārama whakaruru ai. Tokorua rāua i punarua ki a Tiakitai. Ehara, ka taka te wā ka puta tō rāua iwi ki te tono kia whakahokia rāua ki te kāinga. Tukuna ana e Tiakitai kia heria mā te waka. Nō te taenga ki Mātaikona ka pahika a Te Mātahi ka hoki ki a Tiakitai. Kāore he whakamārama mō Hineiaurua, ēngari ko te kōrero i taki noho punarua tonu rāua ki a Tiakitai. Ka puta tā Te Mātahi, he tama ko Te Teira. Ko tā Hineiaurua he tamāhine ko Hōriana Te Whare.
I a Tiakitai rātau ko Te Pareihe, me Te Wera mā, e noho ana i Te Awarua-o-Porirua, he motu i Te Roto-a-Tara, ka puta a Mananui Te Heuheu Tūkino II me tāna matua nui tonu. Ka awhitia te pā. Ka hangaia he arahanga hei whakawhitinga atu. Kua heria katoa hoki ngā waka e Tiakitai mā ki te moutere. Heoi, ko Tiakitai tētahi o ngā kaingārahu nāna i taiari te hunga whakaeke, ka panaia mai i te arahanga. Ka patua ko Te Ārāwai, he rangatira nō Waikato i roto i te ope a Mananui.
I muri mai i taua pakanga, ka whakatūpato atu a Te Pareihe i ngā rangatira o roto o Heretaunga he mate kei te haere. Ka ārahina e ia te maha o te tangata ki Nukutaurua, ki te takutai rāwhiti o Te Māhia whakaruru ai. Na, ko Ngāti Raukawa i peia mai ka noho ki Taupō. I te rongonga kua heke a Ngāti Kahungunu, kua whakarērea a Heretaunga, ka whakaheke mai i raro i a Te Whatanui. Ka hangaia tō rātau pā ki Puketapu ki te taha o te awa o Tūtaekurī. Ka tū mai anō a Tiakitai mā ka peia a Ngāti Raukawa.
Ka riro nā Tiakitai i whakakotahi mai ngā mōrehu o Heretaunga ki te pā i Te Pakake, he motu i te pūroto o Ahuriri. Tū ana ko te matua i tonoa ake e Te Wherowhero ki te ngaki i ōna mate. He mau pū katoa āna toa. Ka takoto tāna kupu, arā, kauaka hei patua ngā rangatira. He maha i parekuratia i te horonga o te pā, ko Te Hauwaho tētahi. Ko Tiakitai, ko Te Hāpuku, ko Te Moananui me Tāreha i mau herehere. Nā Te Wherowhero anō te kupu ko Tiakitai o ngā rangatira nei me tuku. Ka mauria a Te Hāpuku mā ki Waikato.
Ka hoki a Waikato, ka mahue mai ko Tiakitai, i tōna kotahi, hei ārahi i ngā mōrehu o Heretaunga me ngā rerenga. Ka whakaarangia anō ngā maioro o Te Pakake. He wā, ka pā mai te reo karanga o Te Wherowhero kia haere atu ki Waikato kia houhia te rongo. I Taupō ka rokohanga atu ngā taurewa o Ngāi Te Ūpokoiri o te horo i Te Whiti-o-Tū me Te Roto-a-Tara e noho ana i ngā whenua o Ngāti Tūwharetoa. Ka mea atu a Tiakitai me taki hoki ki Heretaunga i raro i tōna maru. I Waikato ka mau te rongo ki a Te Wherowhero ka tukuna a Te Moananui mā kia hokihoki. I te taenga atu ki Taupō, tokoiti noa iho o Ngāi Te Ūpokoiri i whakapono ka tarea e Tiakitai rātau te whakaruru. Ko ngā tamariki a Te Pakapaka, he whanaunga ki te whaea o Tiakitai. I roto i taua tira, ko Kawepō rāua ko tōna tuahine ko Ērena Mekemeke. Rite tonu te hiahia o Te Moananui me Te Hāpuku ki a Ērena hei wahine māna. Heoi i tukuna kē e Kawepō rāua ko Mananui hei wahine mā Tiakitai. Ka puta tā rāua tamāhine ko Hāromi Te Ata. Ka moe a Hāromi i a Karauria, ka puta ko Airini Tōnore (Donnelly). Ko Karauria he tama nā Te Mātenga, teina o Te Moananui.
He maha ngā mea o Heretaunga i rere ki Nukutaurua ki a Te Pareihe rāua ko Te Wera. I ngā tau 1824–25 ka urutomokia a Heretaunga e Te Momo-a-Irawaru me tōna rahinga o Ngāti Te Koherā. He taharua a Ngāti Te Koherā ki a Ngāti Raukawa, ki a Ngāti Tūwharetoa. E whakamau atu ana anō ko te wāhanga o Heretaunga kua whakarērea e Ngāti Kahungunu hei kāinga mō rātau. Ko Ngāi Te Ūpokoiri e noho ana i Te Roto-a-Tara. Ka whakanoho a Ngāti Te Koherā ki te pā i Kahotea i kō tata atu. Ka rongo a Te Pareihe rāua ko Te Wera ka whakatika mai i Nukutaurua. Ka tūhono ā rāua taua me ā rātau pū, ka hoe ake i te awa o Tukituki. Ka whakapiri atu hoki ko Tiakitai me āna toa. Ka whakaekengia te pā i Kahotea, ka hinga a Te Momo.
I te nukunga atu ki Te Roto-ā-Tara, ka tonoa e Tiakitai ko tōna teina ko Tātere hei karere ki a Ngāi Te Ūpokoiri. E tono ana kia tukuna mai a Kawepō i mua i te whakatakahanga o tērā pā. Kāore i whakaaengia mai. Kātahi ka tōia ake ngā waka ki te roto, ka pāhorotia te pā e Te Pareihe. He maha i pāraua. Tērā pea i kainga kia manakore ai. Ko Kawepō i utaina ora tonu ki runga i te ahi. Nā Tātere i tohe kia whakarauorahia. Ka tukuna ki a Tiakitai, nāna ki a Ngāpuhi ka mau hereheretia.
Ka taki hoki a Ngāpuhi me Te Pareihe mā ki Nukutaurua, ka tau te noho a Tiakitai ki Heretaunga. He wā ki Te Pakake, he wā anō ki Waimārama. Tērā pea i noho rawa ia i te pā i Te Motu-o-Kura (Bare Island). Nō ēnei wā ka whakawhiti atu ia ki Poihākena (Port Jackson) mā te kaipuke i tukuna mai e Te Wherowhero, kia mōhio ai a Tiakitai ki ngā nekeneke e riro mai ai he pū he paura māna.
I noho rawa pea a Tiakitai i te taha o Te Pareihe i Nukutaurua i te tekau tau mai i 1830. Ā, i tū rawahia hoki e ia ngā whawhai i Taupō, i Te Manawatū, i Te Tai Rāwhiti. Ā, ka tupu te whakaaro i a Tiakitai mō ngā mahi hokohoko, me te haere i te nuku o te whenua. He mōhio katoa te hunga whaiwhai tohorā o Te Matau-a-Māui ki a Tiakitai. Ki a rātau ko Jacky Tie. He poti whaiwhai tohorā anō tōna.
I Waimārama a Tiakitai e noho ana i te taenga mai o Kāpene W. B. Rhodes ki Heretaunga i te tau 1839. Nāna i hoko atu ki taua Pākehā te whenua mai i Kawakawa, he wāhi e tata ana ki Te Poroporo (Cape Turnagain), ā tae noa ki Te Kauae-ō-Māui (Cape Kidnappers). Nā ētahi atu o ngā rangatira i hoko he whenua anō, atu i reira tae noa ki Ahuriri. Hui katoa e 883,000 eka i hokona ki a Rhodes mō ngā taputapu me ngā moni iti noa nei – £393! Ko ngā taputapu he pū, he paura, he taura, he taputapu ahu whenua, he pūeru, he paraikete. Ko te wāhanga i a Tiakitai e ai ki te kōrero, he hāte, he tarau, he kōhua, he toki me ngā paraikete.
Koia nei te wā i tīmata ai te hokihoki mai o te hunga o Heretaunga me te tai whakarunga. Ko ngā mea i noho ki Waimārama atu ki Pōrangahau i noho katoa i raro i te mana o Tiakitai. Nāna i whakarato ngā whenua hei nohoanga kāinga, hei mahinga kai. Na, i te mea ko ia anake te rangatira i noho tonu ki Heretaunga, kāore i rere ki Nukutaurua, hau ana te rongo o tōna mana i te whenua katoa.
Kāore kē a Tiakitai i tino aro ake ki ngā karakia ki ngā kauwhau a te mihinare rā, a Te Koreneho (William Colenso). Ko tērā tangata i tau atu ki Heretaunga i te tau 1844. I amuamu tonu a Tiakitai ki a Te Koreneho he pōrearea. Ēngari i te tahuritanga o ngā rangatira, o Hoani Waikato mā, ki te patu i a Te Koreneho, ka riro nā Tiakitai i whakahaere te hui mō tērā take. Ka kōrerohia te utu e tika ana, ka takoto tāna kupu me haere ngā wāhine me ngā tamariki a te hunga taunu i a Te Koreneho kia akona ki ngā tikanga Karaitiana.
Na, ka taka ki te tahi o Hepetema i te tau 1847, ka rere a Tiakitai me ōna hoa i runga i tōna poti whaiwhai tohorā. E rere ana ki te whakanui i te mārena i Te Wairoa me Te Māhia. I te pō ka tū mai ngā tai marangai, ka pā te tūpuhi. I ngaro katoa atu rātou me tō rātou poti. Tērā aituā nui whakaharahara i pā ki te iwi. He roa noa atu e tangihia ana a Tiakitai e tōna iwi. Ka waiho ake ko ētahi o ana wāhine, me ana uri ko Te Teira, ko Hāromi, ko Hōriana, ko Pakiaka.