I whānau a Īhāia Hūtana i te tau 1843, 1844 rānei, i Poroutāwhao, he wāhi tata atu ki Ōtaki. I mau hereheretia ōna mātua ki reira e Ngāti Raukawa i muri i tētahi pakanga i Te Roto-a-Tara, i Heretaunga, he mānia ki te takiwā tuawhenua o Te Matau-a-Māui (Hawke's Bay). Ko Te Ahiahi o Ngāti Te Whatuiāpiti tōna whaea. E ai ki ngā tuhinga whakapapa o te Kōti Whenua Māori, ko Te Hūtana Rangipūawhe (Hūtana Pūawhe rānei) tōna matua o Ngāi Toroiwaho, he hapū nō Ngāti Kahungunu me Rangitāne, ā, he pānga hoki ki ngā iwi o mua kē atu e noho ana ki Heretaunga. Nō Ngāti Te Whatuiāpiti anō hoki a Te Hūtana Rangipūawhe.
I te tau 1863 e ora tonu ana pea tōna pāpā, ēngari ka mate tōna whaea i muri tonu i tōna whānautanga mai. He pānga tōna ki a Ngāti Raukawa, i whakaaetia kia whakahokia a Īhāia e ōna whanaunga ki Heretaunga. I mōhiotia a Īhāia e rātou nō ngā kāwai rangatira o Ngāi Toroiwaho. Nā tōna matua kēkē, nā Kararaina i whakanoho i Ōruawharo, ēngari nō te rongonga o ōna whanaunga o Ngāi Tahu i Heretaunga kua hoki mai ia, ka haria e rātou ki Takapau noho ai. Nō te tau pea o 1851 ka neke ia ki Waipukurau ēngari nō te hokonga o te whenua i noho rā ia, ka haere anō ia ki te taha o Ngāi Toroiwaho i Whenuahou kia pakeke rā anō ia, kia 'pihi rawa ōna pāhau.'
Nā ngā mahi hoko whenua i rararu ai te iwi o Īhāia Hūtana ā mate noa ia, tārewa tonu ai ngā auētanga mō te poraka o Aorangi i riro rā i te kāwanatanga. Heoi, ko ngā mahi hokonga whenua a Hōri Niania Te Aroatua kē i te tau 1854 ngā raruraru tino kino rawa atu. I te tau 1864 ka haere a Īhāia ki Pākōwhai ki te kōrero ki a Karaitiana Takamoana mō aua raruraru, ā, noho tonu atu ia i reira. I te tau 1866 ka whawhai ki te Hauhau i Ōmarunui i raro i a Hēnare Tomoana rāua ko Hōri Whitimoa (George Whitmore). I te tau 1867 ka haere ia ki Te Tai Rāwhiti mō te rima marama. Nō muri mai ka tuhi i tōna tino whakamīharo ki te pai o te noho a ngā Māori me te kaha o te kitea atu o tō rātou whakapono i ngā wāhi i haerea e ia. I whawhai anō hoki ia i roto i ngā whakaeke a Te Kooti i te tau 1868–69. I te tau 1867 ka moe ia i a Mereaira, tētahi o ngā whanaunga tata o Hēnare Tomoana. Tokotoru ngā tamariki i puta i a rāua: ko Hūtana Īhāia, ko Waiariki Rōpiha, ko Rerekohu Tūpaea. Ahakoa i mate wawe a Mereaira, i noho piri tonu te whanaungatanga o Tomoana ki a Īhāia i runga anō i te āhua o te mārena.
Nā te whanaungatanga nei i uru atu ai a Īhāia ki ngā take whenua me ngā take tōrangapū. I tuhi reta ia ki Te Wānanga, te nūpepa i whakaputaina i raro i te mana o Tomoana, atu i te tau 1874 ki te tau 1878 hei whakatinana i te kaupapa o te Rōpū Whakahētanga Hoko Whenua (Repudiation Movement). I roto i āna reta ka kitea te tino hōhonu o tōna whakapono (he Mihinare hoki ia), te koi o tōna hinengaro ki ngā tino take o te wā me te whakarite atu ki ngā take o Aotearoa i ngā tau o mua atu. I ngā tau ki muri, ko ia tētahi o te hunga e kaha ana ki te whakatū i te Pīhopa Māori tuatahi mō te Hāhi Mihinare. I whakaaturia e ia tōna kaha pōuri ki te kaupapa whenua a te kāwanatanga koroni. I te tau 1876 ka noho ia i Te Tai Rāwhiti mō te whā marama, tērā pea ki te āwhina i a Hēnare Tomoana i roto i āna mahi ki te āpiti i te iwi kia whakahokia tōna tuakana, a Karaitiana Takamoana hei mema pāremata mō te rohe pōti o Te Tai Rāwhiti. Ko te kī a Īhāia, kāore i rite te noho a te iwi ki tāna i kite rā i te haerenga tuatahitanga ōna ki te rohe o Ngāti Porou, arā, kua whānui kē te puta o te mahi tinihanga, he nui rātou kua mahue te taha whakapono, kua pāngia e te mate, ā, kua rawa kore. Ki tā Īhāia, nā te kāwanatanga me te Kōti Whenua Māori i pēnei ai. Ka amuamu ia, i te take nā Rāpata Wahawaha anake i whiriwhiri ko wai te hunga nō rātou ngā whenua i meatia e ia hei kaihoatu mō ngā poraka o reira. Ka whakapaea he kōwae, he pokanoa ōna whakaaro.
Atu i te tau 1879 ki te tau 1884, i mau tonu a Īhāia ki te āwhina i a Tomoana, i a ia e tū ana hei mema pāremata; koirā, ka noho ia hei hēkeretari. Nā te tūranga nei i haere ai a Īhāia hei hoa mō Tomoana ki Pōneke (Wellington). Nā te mea noho tonu ai rāua i tētahi whare rīhi rūma nei, ka tūtaki a Īhāia ki tana wahine tuarua e mahi ana ki reira. Ko Sarah Alice Gaffney tōna īngoa, he wahine kua rua kē ngā wā e pouarutia ana. He uri a Arihi (Alice) nō ngā tūpuna o Tapurini (Dublin) i Airani. Kotahi tā rāua tamaiti, he tama, i tapaina ko Hēnare Tomoana Hūtana.
Nō te tekau tau atu i 1880, i pā ā-tinana tonu a Īhāia ki ngā whakahaere a te kōti whenua i te wā o ngā huihuinga autō mō te poraka o Waikōpiro me ētahi atu, nō mua kē atu he whenua rāhui i kōwhakina mai i te poraka o Waipukurau. I te tau 1884 i roto ia i te Komiti Māori tirotiro take whenua me ētahi atu take Māori i te rohe o Heretaunga me Te Matau-a-Māui. I te wā i tuku taunakitanga ai ia ki te Kōmihana mō ngā Ture Whenua Māori 1891, i mea ia kua roa kē te iwi Māori e huihui ana ki te whakatū tikanga whakatikatika raruraru whenua, ēngari nā te kore o te Whare Pāremata i whakamana, kāore i puta he hua. Ki tāna nei, ko tēnei te take i mate noa iho ai te Ture Whakapūmau Take Tika (Native Equitable Owners Act) 1886. E tika ana, mā te ture nei hei whakamarumaru te hunga nō rātou ake te whenua, kia kore ai e taea e ngā kaituku Karauna Karāti te whakahaere ngā poraka whenua hei taonga mō rātou ake. Nāna anō i whakaatu ki te kōti ngā hēnga o te Karauna e pā ana ki ngā poraka whenua o Waipukurau me Haowhenua.
I te meatanga o te Kotahitanga i te hui tuatahi o tā rātou Pāremata ki Waipatu i te tau 1892, ka uru atu a Īhāia ki ngā whakahaere. I whakaīngoatia ia hei tangata whakahaere i ngā tautapanga mō te whare matua, arā, mō te Rūnanga Ariki. Ēngari i roto kē i āna mahi ētita o te nūpepa, o Huia Tangata Kotahi i tāngia rā i te tāone o Heretaunga (Hastings), i kitea ai te nunui o āna āwhina i te Kotahitanga. I te putanga o te kape tuatahi me ngā whakaputanga o muri mai, ka whakamāramatia e Īhāia te tino whāinga a Huia Tangata Kotahi, arā, ki te whakakotahi i te iwi Māori mā te pānui i ngā āhuatanga e whakataumaha ana i a rātou i ngā moutere e rua. Ko te whakaaro kia whakaputaina i roto i te nūpepa nei te whakaotinga o ngā pōtitanga, ngā tuhinga o ngā hui pāremata Māori, ngā pānui o tāwāhi tae atu hoki ki ngā pānui o te rohe e pā tahi ana ki te Pākehā me te Māori. I tāia e Īhāia ngā tuhinga kōrero me ngā whakaritenga i whakamanahia e te Kauhanganui – te pāremata o Tāwhiao, te Kīngi Māori; i kōrerotia ngā whakahaere o ētahi atu hui Māori huhua me ngā whakahaere ā-rohe; i pānuitia ngā taupatupatu o te Pāremata o te Koroni. I whakaputaina hoki e ia ngā reta e tohu ana i ngā whānautanga, i ngā iriiringa, i ngā matenga, i ngā mārenatanga, ā, i te nuinga o te wā, i ngā whakapapa hoki.
I te 8 o Pēpuere 1893, ka rewa te kape tuatahi o Huia; ia rua wiki i te tau 1893 ka whakaputaina (ia wiki mō tētahi wā paku nei), ā, i te tau 1894 ka puta ia wiki. Haere katoa ngā kōrero i roto i te reo Māori, ēngari e ai ki ngā whakahau a Īhāia i te tau 1894, e ngana ana te wawara mō te hiahia o te Pākehā ki te tautoko i te pepa mā te whakawhiwhi moni pēnā rā ka whakaputaina i roto i ngā reo e rua. Tae rawa atu ki te tau 1894 kua raruraru te pepa i te kore moni. I whakatūria tētahi kamupene hea Māori hei mahi moni kia ora tonu ai te nūpepa, ēngari i papahoro anō hoki. Nā reira, i te 9 o Pēpuere 1895 ka puta te kape whakamutunga o Huia Tangata Kotahi. I taua putanga, ka whakamārama a Īhāia i te take i pēnei ai te nūpepa. Ki tāna, ehara i te mea i ngoikore ko te manu (arā, ko te huia) i kore ai e rere, ēngari i pēnei kē ai nā te mea i pau ko te hinu.
Nā āna mahi ētita i mau tonu ai tōna rongo hei kaihautū mō te motu me te Kotahitanga, ā, i muri mai mō te huhua o ngā whakahaere e pā ana ki a Ngāti Kahungunu. I te tau 1898 i tuhi ia ki Te Puke Ki Hikurangi, te nūpepa i whakakapi i tāna, ki te whakaputa i ōna whakaaro mō te whakahaere o te kaupapa o te Kotahitanga. I kōrero rawa ia mō ngā taupatupatu kua puta i waenganui i te Kotahitanga, ā, i waenganui hoki i ngā iwi, me tana kite ake kīhai i whiwhi i te mana motuhake. I kōrerotia hoki e ia te kore whakaae a te kāwanatanga ki te tono o te tau 1897 kia rāhuitia te toenga o ngā whenua Māori mō ake tonu atu; kātahi ka haria taua tono ki a Kuini Wikitōria i te haerenga o te ope hōia Māori ki te whakanui i tōna hui huritau ono tekau.
I eke a Īhāia ki te tihi o āna mahi mō te iwi i ngā tekau tau atu i 1900. I haere ia ki Pōneke ki te āwhina i te mahi a Te Ture Kaunihera Māori 1900 ki te whakatūtū ture ā-rohe me ngā tohutohu. Ko ia te heamana o te Kaunihera Māori o Tamatea i whakatūria rā i raro i te ture i ngā tau 1901–2. I te tau 1901 anō hoki ko ia te māngai o Ngāti Kahungunu i te hui whakatau i te Tiuka rāua ko tōna hoa rangatira o Cornwall, o York. I taua hui ka haere te kōrero mōna, he tangata tāroaroa, he koroheke, he rangatira pai, he tangata tūtika, ā, he mā ōna pāhau. I te tau 1903 i mahi ia i te taha o Timi Kara (James Carroll) ki te whakatatū i ngā nawe o te Māori i Kaikohe. Nō te tau 1905 ka noho ia ki runga i tētahi kōmihana roera, kōmihana uiui i ngā amuamu o te iwi Māori i mea rā kāore ngā whenua i Porirua, i Ōtaki, i Waikato, i Wairarapa, i Motueka i te whakamahia mō te take i hoatu rā ki ngā poari tiaki kura o aua wāhi. Atu i te tau 1907 ki te tau 1914 ka noho ia hei āteha i roto i te Kōti Whenua Māori, ā, he mema ia nō te Poari Kaitiaki o Te Aute atu i te tau 1908 ki te 1915. He tangata tohunga tēnei ki ngā tikanga Māori. Hau ana tōna rongo ki te tito waiata, ki te tito haka, ki te whaikōrero, ki te tuhituhi hoki. Hau ana hoki tōna rongo mō te eke tika i a ia o ngā mea nāna rā i poropiti ka taea.
Nō te tau 1914 i whakangā a Īhāia Hūtana, ka hoki ki te ahu i ōna whenua, arā pea i Mataweka, tata atu ki Waipāwa. I noho ia i konei mō te rua tekau tau, ā, ka mate i reira. E 95 pea ōna tau i tōna matenga i te 9 o Noema 1938. E ono wiki ia e pāngia ana e te mate. I tōna matenga ka tukua e te pirimia, e Michael Joseph Savage, rāua ko te minita mō ngā take Māori, ko Frank Langstone he pānui aroha ki a ia. I tanumia a Īhāia i te urupā o te whānau i Mataweka i te 12 o ngā rā o Noema. Ka mahue mai tōna hoa wahine a Arihi Hūtana, me tā rāua tama ake, me ērā anō hoki o āna tamariki.