Nō te 12 o Hepetema o te tau 1870, i whānau ai a Kiti Karaka i te motu o Ruapuke i Te Ara-a-Kiwa (Foveaux Strait). Ko ētahi o ōna īngoa karanga ko Catherine, ko Kate, ko Kitty Clark rānei. I whānau tōna pāpā, a Arapetere Karaka (Albert Clark) ki Wharekauri, arā, ko te īngoa Moriori ko Rēkohu (Chatham Islands). Ko 'Chatham Islands Willy' te īngoa tāpiri o Arapetere. I heke mai ōna tātai i te iwi Moriori me Ngāti Māmoe. Ko Meri (Mary) Owen tōna whaea, he tamāhine nā te Pākehā nei, nā John Owen rāua ko Meri (Mary) Tāmairiki. He uri anō hoki a Meri nō ngā iwi Moriori me ngā Māori; ko tōna hapū ko Ngāti Hinetewai. Arā ia i Maungahuka (Auckland Island) e noho ana i tētahi kāinga i nohoia tahitia e ngā Māori me ngā Moriori. Nō muri mai i tō rātou whakarerenga i tērā kāinga i te tekau tau atu i 1850, ko te āhua nei, i noho kē mai ia ki Te Ara-a-Kiwa, kia kore a ia e whakahokia ki Wharekauri, taurekareka ai.
I tupu ake a Kiti i Ruapuke, i te wāhi i iriiria a ia e J. F. H. Wohlers, te minita o te Hāhi Rūtera. Nō te matenga o tōna pāpā i te tau 1872, ka haere ia ki te motu o Rakiura (Stewart Island), noho ai. I reira, ka moe tōna whaea a Meri i a James Henry Wixon. Nō te huringa o ōna tau ki te 15, ka haria a ia e Alexander Shand, he tangata mahi pāmu, he kairangahau i te noho ā-iwi, ki Wharekauri mā runga i te kune, ko te Ōmaha te īngoa. Ko tāna, he whakarite kau i te hiahia o te kaumātua Moriori, o Hirawanu Tapu, he āwangawanga nō tērā kei ngaro tōna iwi me ā rātou tikanga katoa mō ake tonu atu, te take i whakaaro ia ki te whakarite hoa moe mō ngā mōrehu o te iwi Moriori. Tau ana ki tā Tapu i whakakaupapa ai, ka hapū a Kiti i a Rīwai Te Rōpiha, te tama a Te Rōpiha, te pakeke o Wairua.
Ahakoa nāna i whakaae a Kiti kia haere ki Wharekauri, nō te rongo kua hapū ka mate a Meri i te whakatakariri. Kātahi a ia ka whakawehi ki te hari i taua take rā ki te kōti, ā, mā te kōti e whakahau kia whakahokia mai a Kiti. Ka uru atu a Thomas Ritchie, te rangatira o te teihana o Kaingaroa, hei takawaenga, kātahi ka tuhituhi atu a ia ki a Meri me te kī, arā, nō te taurekareka rā, nō Tapu te hē i puta ake ai taua raruraru nei. I tohutohungia e ia te whaea kia ākina a Tapu ki te whakawhiti i te katoa o ōna whenua ki a Kiti, ā, i muri atu i tērā kia āta whakamoea a Kiti rāua ko Rīwai e ai ki tā te ture. Ko te āhua nei, ko te mutunga iho i roto i te wā, i whakaae te whaea ki tētahi whakataunga (ēngari, kāre ōna mokamoka i te tino mārama), me te noho pūmau tonu a Kiti ki Wharekauri.
Hei kaimahi pāmu a Rīwai Te Rōpiha mā Ritchie. He pēnei te whakaaturanga mai a te Pākehā nei, a Ritchie, arā, he taitama tino kaha a ia, he nui te ora, he kakama. Ko ia tētahi o ngā tāngata tokorua, he Moriori tūturu, i kōwhiria e Hirawanu Tapu hei kaihautū ā muri ake nei. Ko Rangitapua Horomona Rehe o Manukau tētahi atu. Mō te roanga ake o tō rāua mārenatanga, arā rāua i Wairua e noho ana; kei te taha whakarua o Wharekauri te wāhi nei. I hangaia e rāua tētahi whare nui pēnei i te whare rūnanga Māori te āhua ki reira. Koinei anake te whare pērā i nōhia e te Moriori i Wharekauri i te tekau mā iwa o ngā rau tau. Tokoiwa ā rāua tamariki; tokoono i ora – ko Ngāria, ko Rotia, ko Ruea, ko Meri, ko Tio me Rīria.
Nō ngā tau tōmua o te tekau tau atu i 1900 ka wehe rāua. Ko te āhua nei, he pūremu nō Rīwai ki a Rose Clark, tētahi o ngā tāina o Kiti, te take. He hiahia nō Kiti ki te whakaū i tāna noho motuhake ake, i haere ai a ia ki tētahi tūranga o te Kōti Whenua Māori i Pōneke (Wellington) i Hune o te tau 1904. I kī atu a ia ki te kōti, nō te matenga o Hirawanu Tapu i te tau 1900, me tōna hoa wahine, me Rohana i te tau 1902, ka mahue ko rāua anake ko tētahi wahine Moriori, ko Ani Wī Hoeta, ngā huānga tata e ora ana. Whakaaetia tonutia atu e te kaiwhakawā ā rāua whakaaturanga, kātahi ka taki hoki ki Wharekauri hei rangatira i raro i te ture ki ngā whenua tāpui Moriori i Te Awapātiki, e 657 eka te nui. Ki te whakaaro o Kiti, ko te pūtake kē o tāna mahi he whakaū kē i ngā tikanga i whakaritea i te wā i taumautia a ia. Ā, ko te mea anō, nō te tīmatanga o te hekenga o Tapu ki roto ki te māuiuitanga, ka noho nā Kiti i tiaki, ā, ka riro mai i a ia tētahi wira e whakaīngoa ana ko ia te mea tika ki ngā rawa.
Heoi, kātahi te iwi o Manukau ka pukuriri. Tērā ētahi whānau e tata kē atu ana te whanaungatanga ki a Tapu. Ka whakakotahitia rātou ki te whakatakahuri i te ōta whakakapi a te kōti, ā, me waihanga anō tētahi e waiho ana i a Kiti rāua ko Ani ki waho. Nā runga i te kaha taumaha o te pōuri me te ongaonga, kāre i roa i muri mai i te kerēme ātete nei, ka whakarērea atu e Kiti a Wharekauri, kore tonu i hoki. Atu i tērā wā, kore rawa ia i kite i ā rāua tamariki ko tana tāne tuatahi; he mea whakanohonoho haere rātou i ētahi atu o ngā whānau Moriori, atawhai ai.
Nō taua tau anō, nō 1906, ka moe a Kiti i a Te Ao Ahitana Mātenga (Joseph Ashton) o Ngāti Kahungunu. Noho ai rāua i Hūpēnui (Greytown) i Te Wairarapa, ka whānau tā rāua huatahi, he tama, ko Hōhepa (Joey) Mātenga Ahitana te īngoa. Koinei ōna hokinga mahara mō tōna whaea, mō Kiti, arā, he wahine kaha, he wahine whakahīhī, ēngari paku noa ana kōrero mō te wā o mua. E 56 te pakeke o Kiti i tōna matenga ki Hūpēnui i te 2l o Hānuere o te tau 1927.
Ko tētahi wāhanga anō o te raruraru i waenganui i te Moriori me te Māori, i waenganui tonu i ngā Moriori hoki, ko ngā pānga whenua i pakangatia rā e Kiti Karaka Rīwai, i te wā i te iwi kāinga e ngana ana ki te pupuri i tētahi wāhi o tō rātou whenua tupu. He manawapā nō ngā kaumātua mōrehu o ngā Moriori, kia ora haere tonu ai tō rātou karanga iwi, i whakamoea ai a Kiti ki te tangata Moriori tūturu. He wāhanga tokomaha tonu te whānau o ngā Horomona o Manukau me ngā uri o ngā tāne a Kiti, arā, o Rīwai rāua ko Ahitana, o te iwi Moriori e ora tonu ana i te rau tau rua ngahuru. Ko te whānau i kaha rawa te nui, ko te whānau a Preece, koinei ngā uri o Rīria, te tamāhine pōtiki a Kiti, rāua ko tētahi Pākehā, ko Charles Preece.