Ko Rehutai Maihi tonu te mea pakeke o ngā tamāhine tokorua a Te Paea Nehua rāua ko tana tāne, ko Nētana (Nathan) Maihi, he tope puihi nei tana mahi. He uri anō hoki te pāpā o Rehutai nō te rangatira rā o Ngāpuhi, nō Patuone. Nō te 16 o Hepetema o te tau 1895 a Rehutai i whānau ki Whakapara, e pātata atu rā ki Whāngārei. E tamariki tonu ana ia ka mate te pāpā. Ka moe anō tana māmā, arā, moe ana i te tangata nei i a Weretā Ārama (Adams). Tokotoru ā rāua tamariki, tokorua hei tāina tonu ki a Rehutai, kotahi hei tungāne. He Mihinare te Hāhi o te whānau nei, ā, whakaurua ana a Rehutai ki te Kura o Kuini Wikitōria mō ngā Kōtiro Māori i te tau 1911, ka rua tau pea tana roa ki reira. He toa kē a Rehutai ki ngā mahi tākaro, arā, te purei tēnehi, te korowha, tae atu ki te eke hōiho. He tau anō hoki ia ki te waiata me te patu piana.
I Whāngārei i tīmata te whakaakoranga a Rehutai ki te mahi whakarārangi kupu kōrero mō te mahi tā nūpepa. I muri mai ka nuku atu ia ki Kaitāia, ā, kāore i roa kua noho kē ia he kaituhi nūpepa te mahi. I te tekau tau atu i 1920, i te rironga atu o Allen Bell, te rangatira o te nūpepa, te Northlander ki te Whare Pāremata, he nui te wā i noho ai a Rehutai hei kaiētita mō taua pepa. Tuhituhi ana hoki ia mō te Luminary o Kawakawa me te Northland Age, ā, hau ana tōna rongo ki Te Tai Tokerau, tuhi ake i āna kōrero i raro i te īngoa kaituhi rā, i a 'Nellie Nathan'.
I te whakaaetanga a ōna pakeke o Whāngārei, tīmataria ana e ia te nūpepa nei a Aotearoa i te marama o Hune o te tau 1932, he mea tā tonu ki te reo Māori. Tonoa ana e ia te tangata kia tuku kōrero mai hei pānui māna, ā, he mea tā rawa e ia ngā kupu katoa o te Tiriti o Waitangi, i puta nei i te tānga tuatahi. He rerekē te pepa nei a Aotearoa i ērā atu o ngā pepa Māori nā te mea kāre tahi he āwhina mai a ētahi o ngā Hāhi matua. He mea tā tonu e ia a Aotearoa i tana wāhi mahi, i te tari rā o te Mirror (poto noa te putanga ake, ka mutu te mahi a te pepa nei.) He 'ētita kaitā' te īngoa o Rehutai mōna, ā, e rua nei ōna īngoa whakaatu tuhi, arā, ko Rehutai Nētana me Nell Rehutai. Ia wiki, ia wiki ka tīmata te puta ake o Aotearoa, ēngari ka haere te wā, roroku ana te puta mai. Ka taka mai ki te marama o Tīhema 1932 mahia kētia mai ana e Rehutai a Aotearoa i Whakapara, ā, kua pakupaku kē ake te hanga o te pepa nei. E ai ki te kōrero a Rehutai, ko te perehi mahi mai i a Aotearoa te perehi i tāia ai te Tiriti o Waitangi. Ka tae mai nei ki waenganui o te tau 1933, ka mutu te puta ake o te pepa nei mō tētahi wā. I taua tau anō i te 13 o Noema i Ruāwai, moea ana e Rehutai a Stanley Gilberd, he tangata kua mana te wehe mai i tana wahine o mua atu. Ko te mahi a Gilberd he pokapoka, he kaikānataraki hoki, ā, e 43 tana pakeke. Kotahi noa tā rāua tamaiti, he kōtiro.
I te whakataetaetanga a Rehutai kia tū mō te rohe pōti o Te Tai Tokerau i te tau 1935, ka noho ko ia te wahine Māori tuatahi i tū hei kaiwhakauru ki te Pāremata; whakataetaetia ana e ia te tūru nei i raro i tana īngoa tupu, i a Maihi. Nā tana kāwai rangatira i pai noa iho tana tū i ngā hui tōrangapū, whaikōrero ai, ahakoa i tūpato tonu te whakaaro o ōna pakeke. I ngā wāhi katoa o ana hui, pai ana te whakaaro o te maha o te tangata i rongo i a ia e kōrero ana. Tū noa ake ana a Rehutai hei 'takawaenga' (ko tērā te īngoa o taua wā mō te tū motuhake), ā, e ai ki tāna, he pērā tonu tana kaupapa mō te Māori i tā te Rōpū Reipa o Aotearoa; ko te take tino nui ki a ia ko te whakatika ake i te oranga o ngā wāhine me ngā tamariki Māori, me te mea anō kia whai mahi hoki ngā tama me ngā kōtiro kātahi anō ka mutu atu te kura. Heoi anō, ko te mutunga mai nui kē atu te tautoko a ngā kaipōti i a Tau Hēnare, i toa kē nei ko ia, rāua ko tana tāwhai, ko Paraire Paikea o te Rōpū Rātana. Nā konei i uaua ai te pōti a te tangata mō Rehutai, 156 katoa āna pōti, ka noho tuaono ia o te tokowhitu i whakataetae rā i te tūru.
I te marama o Hepetema 1940, i a ia e noho mai ana i Kaikohe, ka whakaarahia ake anō e ia te pepa nei a Aotearoa. He mōhio nōna, ka tīmata nei te pakanga, ka nui te hiahia o ngā hōia i tāwāhi ki tētahi pepa kōrero tonu i tō rātou reo. Ko tāna i whakaatu ai ko te āhua o te haere o te pakanga tae atu ki ngā mahi o te kāinga e hāngai ana nei ki te hunga pānui Māori. I te tīmatanga ia wiki e rua puta ake ai te pepa nei, ēngari nō muri mai puta kē mai ana ia marama. I tēnei wā e rima tau kē te roa o Aotearoa e mahia ana, ā, puta ake ana te putanga whakamutunga i te 1 o Noema 1945. Heoi anō, kore rawa i tōtika mai te mahi moni a te pepa nei.
Taka rawa atu ki te pokapūtanga o te tekau tau atu i 1940 kua pāngia kētia a Rehutai e te mate, nā te kore i kitea he mate huka kē nei tōna mate, ka kino kē atu ia. Otirā mau tonu tana noho mema i roto i te Rōpū mō ngā Wāhine Māori (Māori Women's Institute), kaha pūmau tonu tana tautoko i te Rōpū Wāhine Toko i te Ora (Māori Women's Welfare League), haere tonu ana ia ki ētahi o ngā hui. I noho tonu a Rehutai i Kaikohe ā pau noa ōna tau. Nō te marama o Āperira o te tau 1967 i mate ai tana tāne, otirā, ruarua noa ngā marama i muri mai ko ia e whai atu ana i tana hoa. Nō te 12 o Ākuhata i hemo ai a Rehutai i te hōhipera o Pēwhairangi (Bay of Islands) i Kawakawa.
Nā te mea pea hoki kāore i ū tika tana whakamahi i ōna pūmanawa me ōna painga, i rahua ai a Rehutai. He mārama ki a ia te kōrero Māori, kōrero Pākehā hoki, he wahine mārō hoki ngā whakaaro, ā, nā te āhua o te whakatupu me te whakaakoranga i a ia, māmā noa ana te whakaputa i ōna whakaaro, te kaha whawhai kē rānei kia whakaaetia aua kaupapa rā. Ahakoa kāore te nuinga o ana kaupapa i tutuki, ēngari nā tōna kaha i tū ia hei kaiwhakauru ki te Pāremata, ā, riro ana nāna anake tētahi pepa Māori i whakahaere. Mōhio whānuitia ana a Rehutai e te Māori rāua ko te Pākehā, mau tonu te whakanui i a ia; tika tonu te whakaaro ake o te tangata mōna, arā, he wahine pukumahi rawa atu ia.