I kō paku mai i Waerenga-a-Hika wāhi o Tūranganui-a-Rua (Poverty Bay) ko Tūtoko. Ko te whakaaro i whānau a Kate (Keita) Halbert i reira i ngā tau tōmua o te tekau tau atu i 1840. Ko ia te tamāhine a te kaihokohoko, a Tāme Poto (Thomas Halbert) rāua ko tana wahine tuarima, ko Keita Kaikiri (Kaikeri). Nā tōna whaea tōna hononga ki a Ngāti Kaipoho o Rongowhakaata, ā, i noho ai hai uri mō Te Hūkaipū. I mōhio whānuitia ko Keita te pūkōrero mō ngā kōrero tīpuna o Rongowhakaata, ā, nō muri ake, nā tēnei i taea ai e ia te tū hai māngai wahapū mō tōna iwi i ngā nohonga o te Kōti Whenua Māori i Tūranga (Gisborne). Nōna ngātahi ngā ao e rua, te ao Māori me te ao Pākehā, ā, nā tōna manawanui me tōna pūkenga ki ngā mahi taupatupatu me ngā mahi whaikōrerorero, i tautiaki tōna mana me āna whai taketanga.
Ko te kōrero i akona a Keita i te kura mīhana Mihinare iWaerenga-a-Hika. E ai ki ngā kōrero tuku iho a te whānau, nō te 14 o Ākuhata 1854 ka moea e ia a Hēmi Waere (James Ralston Wyllie) o Ayrshire wāhi o Koterana, he kaimahi nā te kaihokohoko, nā Kāpene G. E. Read. Ko tētahi o ōna īngoa e mōhiotia ana ko Keita Waere (Waera). I puta ki a rāua ko Hēmi Waere ngā tama tokoono me ngā tamāhine tokotoru. He pāmu tā te whānau i Tūtoko ā tae noa ki te tau 1865. Anea kau ana te whenua i te mahi a ngā whawhai i reira i waenga i te hunga Hauhau me ngā hōia a te kāwanatanga. Nā ngā kūpapa Māori i tuku he whenua mō rātau i te poraka o Kahanui hai utunga. I wawe te taenga atu o te whakaohiti i Noema o 1868 kia rere rātau, te wā i tukia ai a Matawhero e Te Kooti me āna apataki. O te 54 i patua kia mate e 20 nuku atu rānei he Māori, ā, e hia kē nei i mau hereheretia. Ēngari ko tana tama, ko Wiremu, i patua kētia e te marau a Te Kooti i te tukinga o Manutūkē i Tīhema.
Nō te tau i muri mai ko Keita Waere tētahi o te hunga whai whenua, hui katoa 17, nā rātau i hoko he whenua i Tūranganui hai tūnga mō te tāone o Tūranga. E ai ki ngā whakataunga a te Kōmihana o Tūranganui-a-Rua i 1869, ko ia tētahi o ngā rangatira i ngā poraka whenua 13 te tauanga. Hōrapa ana ki roto ko te 19,200 eka o te poraka o Whataūpoko me te 9,000 eka o te poraka o Repongaere. He maha ngā tūnga o Keita Waere ki te aroaro o te kōti ki te tohe i āna kerēme whenua. He whenua i Te Rāhui me te poraka o Kaiaua ētahi i uru mai ki aua kerēme. He wahine hikareia, he wahine māia ki te whakahaere i āna kēhi. Ko ngā whenua kūraruraru i Tūtoko i whakawhiwhia ake hoki ki a Hēmi Waere.
I te tōmuatanga o te tekau tau atu i 1870 arā a Keita Waere i Tūranga e noho ana. Nāna i whakatū he whare, e mōhiotia ana i te rā nei ko Wyllie Cottage, i tērā tarawāhi o te awa o Taruheru atu i te tāone. Nō te 19 o Tīhema 1875 ka hemo a Hēmi Waere. Nō muri iho ka moea e Keita a Kēnana (Michael Joseph Gannon), he tangata i raihanatia hai kaiwhakamāori. Ko te wā tēnei i karangatia ai a Keita i ētahi wā ko Keita Kēnana. Tokorua ngā tama, tokorua ngā tamāhine hoki o tō rāua pā harakeke. Nō te Maehe 1883 ka tū a Kēnana ki te aroaro o te Kōti Whenua Māori ki te whakatakoto i tā rāua kerēme ko Keita, arā ko ngā whenua e nohoia ana e ia i Whataūpoko, he mea tuku ki a ia nā ngā kaitiaki o te poraka, nā Wī Pere rātau ko Riperata Kahutia me Te Riihi (W. L. Rees). Hai tungāne a Wī Pere ki a Keita, ā, ahakoa nā te pāpā kotahi, he whaea kē ō rāua. Heoti, i hinga te kēhi a ngā Kēnana. I te tau 1893 ka nuku rāua ki Ākarana noho ai. He kanohi nō ngā mahi ōpapa te mahi a Kēnana i reira, ā, taro ake ka tū a ia hai kaiwhakamāori.
Nō te tau 1906 ka uru a Keita ki tētahi tautohe ki a Pīmia Aata (Euphemia Arthur) e pā ana ki te tuakiritanga o Te Ratu. Ko te whakaatu mai a Kāpene Kuki (James Cook) i tana pukapuka o 1769, he ūpoko ariki te tangata nei nō Tūranga. I kokoraho a Pīmia he tipuna taua tangata nōna. Kāore a Keita i te whakahē he tipuna tō Pīmia ko Te Ratu te īngoa, ēngari hai tāna, he mokopuna tāne kē tērā i whakaaturia mai rā e Kuki nā Te Hūkaipū, arā, nō Heta Te Kani kē te tipuna rā, ehara nō Pīmia. I whakahaeretia te tautohe nei i ngā whārangi o te nūpepa Te Pīpīwharauroa, ā, i ētahi wā i tautotohetia whānuitia i ngā tiriti o Tūranga.
Nō mua atu a Keita i tana hoa tāne, i a Kēnana, i hemo ai. Nō te 4 o Pēpuere 1913 a ia ka mate. I hinga i te kāinga o tana tamāhine i Remuera wāhi o Ākarana (Auckland). He wahine e maumaharatia ana mō tōna kaha ki te tiaki i tōna mana rangatira me tērā o tōna iwi.