Nō te 25 o Ākuhata i te tau 1929 i whānau ai a John Te One Hippolite (i rēhita kētia nei ia ko Teone Hoani Hippolite) i te kokoru o Madsen i te motu o Rangitoto (D’Urville Island), te mea pakeke o ngā tamariki, tekau katoa nei rātou, a te ihu oneone nei a Peneāmine (Benjamin) Hippolite rāua ko tana wahine, ko Maria Poto Tuo Elkington. Ahakoa tokorua atu anō ngā tamariki i whakatipua e rāua, tokorua atu anō hoki ā rāua tamariki whāngai i mana tonu te riro mai i a rāua. Ahakoa ōna kāwai mai i a Ngāti Koata, i a Ngāti Toa me Ngāti Kuia, arā atu anō ōna pānga ki a Ngāti Tama me Ngāi Tahu. I tipu mai a Te One i te wā o te korekore, ā, nā te mahi nekeneke haere tonu a ōna mātua ki te kimi mahi, i noho a ia i ngā hōpuni pūihi me ngā kāinga o ōna tūpuna, o ōna whāea kēkē, me ōna mātua kēkē anō hoki. Nā tēnei āhua i tino kaha ake ai tana whakaaro ki te whānau whānui, ā, he mahi tino whakahirahira kē nei ki a ia te whakapapa. He whānau tino whakapono nei tana whānau ki te Hāhi Mōmona.
I kuraina a Te One i ngā kura o Rangitoto, o Matangiāwhea (Auckland Point School) i Whakatū (Nelson) me te kura anō o Matapihi i Kaiaua (Croisilles Harbour). Ka eke nei ōna tau ki te tekau mā toru, kua mahue kē atu i tōna whānau te motu, kua neke kē atu ki Whakatū. Kia āhei ai a Te One te haere ki te kāreti o Whakatū (Nelson College), i noho rātou ngātahi ko ētahi atu whānau e toru nei i te whare kotahi. Waihoki rā, ka rua tau noa tana roa i te kura. I tana wehenga atu i te kura, ko tana mahi tuatahi he mahi i te kīhini o te waka tere o waenganui motu, e rere atu rā i Whakatū ki Pōneke (Wellington). He haere tonu nōna i te taha o ōna mātua kēkē ki te hī ika, i waia ai a Te One ki tēnei mea ki te poti. He wā anō nei, he tapahi taekai nei tana mahi i te takiwā o Te Aumiti (French Pass), he kutikuti, he whakakao hipi anō tā rātou mahi ko ana tuākana, tēina rānei.
Kotahi tau i muri i te pakarutanga mai o te pakanga i Kōrea, arā, i te marama o Hune i te tau 1951, i uru atu a Te One ki te ope taua, ā, whakaakona ana a ia hei kaiwaitohu i te puni hōia o Burnham. I te whakataunga atu i a ia ki te Kayforce, i wehe atu ia ki Kōrea i te 2 o Ākuhata o taua tau tonu, i raro i te matua tohu o te whare o te Huihuinga Iwi Nama 1 (No 1 Commonwealth Divisional Signals Regiment). Kāore i tino pai ki a ia te tauoranga hōia, ka hara haere kē nei ia. Ko ētahi o aua mahi āna he whakangaro noa i a ia (AWOL) mō te wā poto nei, pērā i te wā o te Rā Whakamahara ki ngā Hōia o Ahitereiria me Aotearoa (Anzac Day) o 1952, e iwa hāora kē nei tana roa e ngaro atu ana. Tino werohia ana tōna whatumanawa i a ia e tū hōia ana. I a ia i Kōrea, i kitea e ia te tūkinotanga o te mana o te hunga whakaruru i a rātou i tō rātou whenua tonu, whakaōritea ake ana e ia tēnei ki te āhua o ngā Māori o Aotearoa. I reira kitea ake ana ngā korikoringa tuatahi āna i te ao tōrangapū.
Nō muri i te pakanga, he kaimahi ahu whenua nei te mahi a Te One, ā, nō te 12 o Oketopa i te tau 1953 i moea ai e ia a June Noreen Gray ki Whakatū; tokoono ngā tamariki i whakatipua e rāua. I te wā o te tekau tau atu i 1950, e mahi ana a ia mā te rerewhenua o Aotearoa (New Zealand Railways) i Waipara me Waitaha whaka-te-raki (North Canterbury). Nō muri i tēnā ka riro i a ia te mahi kaitaraiwa, māngai uniana hoki mō te kamupene kaitōtō, mō Kirbys o Whakatū.
Noho ake ana ko te tekau tau atu i 1960 me te pakanga o Whitināmu te wā o te putanga atu o Te One Hippolite hei kaiwhakatūtū. Ehara kau a Te One i te kaiwhakamārie, ā, he mea whakahīhī rawa atu ki a ia tōna mematanga o te Rōpū mō ngā Hōia Mōrehu (RSA). Kāti rā, kua roa kē ia e hīkoi ātete ana ki te pakanga, kāore anō te tangata kia rata mai ki tērā tū āhua. I te tuatahi, tokoono noa pea ngā tāngata o Whakatū, ko ia nei hoki tētahi, e whakatūtū ana. Taihoa ake kitea ana e ia te whakatakariri o te tangata ki a ia. Ahakoa kua takatū kē a ia, nā te mea e hia tau kē nei tana kitenga atu i tētahi mahinga pēnei i waho mai i te whare tapere Majestic; i reira e patua ana, e hāwenetia ana te hunga ātete, e whakatūtū, e whakahē ana nei tā rātou mahi i te kaupapa e here nei i te tangata kia akona hei hōia. Ahakoa, ka mau haere tonu te mahi hīkoi ātete pakanga, hui whakamataara, hui noa ake a te rōpū a Te One, ā, nāwai rā nuku kē atu ana te nui o te tangata e hono mai ana ki a rātou.
Nō ngā tau tōmuri o ngā tekau tau atu i 1960, atu hoki i 1970, i kaha atu ai te mau ake a Te One Hippolite i ngā take Māori. He mema anō hoki ia nō MOOHR (Māori Organisation on Human Rights), ā, nō te tau 1972, i whai wāhi atu anō hoki ia ki tētahi rōpū i Whakatū e māharahara ana ki te nui o ngā Māori e takahi ana i te ture. Riro ana nā ōna mema i tirotiro te momo whakahaere o te kōti whakawā o Whakatū i āna mahi; nō te tau i muri mai i oti i a rātou te pepa nei, ko ‘Justice and race: a monocultural system in a multicultural society’. Ko tā rātou i whakatau nei, e matatika ai te kēhi a te kaiwawao me whai kanohi ā-ture tonu taua tangata rā. Nā te whakaūnga rā o tēnei tikanga, kātahi ka hautoru te iti ake o ngā Māori e mau herehere ana. E ai ki tā rātou i tohe nei, me e kapi katoa ana te motu i taua tikanga rā, ko tētahi hautoru o te hunga Māori e mau herehere ana, kāore kē e tika ana ki reira.
Ko tētahi take māharahara anō a Te One Hippolite ko te kaupapa whakauka. Nō te marama o Hānuere o te tau 1973 i whakatūria atu a ia ki te poari o te pāka moana o ngā kokorutanga o Te Wairau (Marlborough Sounds Maritime Park Board), ā, whāia, nā tēnei whakangākau ōna, nō muri mai i whakatūria atu ia i te tau 1991 ki te komiti Māori mō ngā taonga tuku iho (Māori Heritage Committee) o te Pouhere Taonga (New Zealand Historic Places Trust). I whai wāhi atu anō hoki ia ki ngā kerēme e rua i riro nei nā te Rōpū Whakamana i te Tiriti o Waitangi (Waitangi Tribunal) i whakahaere; inarā, ko te kerēme mō te motu o Takapōrewa, Takapourewa rānei (Stephens Island), me te kerēme anō hoki mō ngā tipu māori me ngā kararehe taketake (Indigenous Flora and Fauna), he mea rēhita rā i ngā tau 1989 me 1991.
I te mahuetanga o rāua ko tana hoa wahine i te tau 1973 (nō te tau 1976 i wehe tūturu ai), i nuku atu a Te One Hippolite ki Waikato, ki reira mahi nēhi ai. He mea nui ki a ia ngā tau e waru i pau i a ia ki reira, whakamarohi ake ai i tana taha Māori, me tana taha ‘kaiwhakatūtū mangu’ hoki. Nō taua wā anō i uru atu hoki ia ki te hīkoi Māori mō te whenua o te tau 1975, ā, mau ana ia e te ture i te papa korowha o Whāingaroa (Raglan) me Takaparawhā (Bastion Point). I pakangatia anō hoki e ia te haerenga mai o ngā Springboks ki konei purei whutupaoro ai i te tau 1981. He tangata tautoko nei a Te One i te Rōpū Reipa o Aotearoa, tae noa ki te wā i whakatūria mai te rōpū Mana Motuhake i te tau 1980. Taupiri tonu tana mahi mai i te taha o ACORD, arā, o te komiti o Ākarana mō ngā take kaikiri, whakahāwea anō hoki (Auckland Committee on Racism and Discrimination). I ngā tau tōmua atu o te tekau tau atu i 1980 i tino whakatakariri nei te Hāhi Mōmona ki a ia, he wero nōna i te Hāhi mō te āhua o tō rātou whakaaro ki te hunga kiri mangu o Amerika.
I te mutunga atu o te tau 1981, kua hoki kē atu a Te One ki Whakatū. I reira i hono atu ia ki tētahi rōpū, ko te īngoa nei ko te rōpū ā-iwi o Whakatū (Nelson Race Collective), arā, he wāhanga tēnei nō te kotahitanga ārai i te whakatoihara iwi o te takiwā kāinga. He kaitohutohu tikanga ā-iwi anō hoki tētahi o āna mahi i te Tari Toko i te Ora. Nō tana pūkeke kia whakapaitia ake ai te oranga me te hauora o te Māori, nāna anō i tīmata anō te komiti Māori o Whakatū, ko ia anō hoki he mema nō te komiti marae o Whakatū, ā, tāpiri atu ki tēnā, ko ia tētahi nā rātou i whakatū he kōhanga reo i Whakatū. He mema anō hoki ia nō te komiti tūturu mō te hauora Māori (Standing Committee on Māori Health).
Nō te 27 o Pēpuere o te tau 1993 i moea ai e Te One Hippolite te kaimahi toko i te ora nei, a Rosemary Gwendolyn Sutherland i Richmond, inarā, tekau tau kē nei rāua e noho tahi ana. E iwa marama i muri mai, i te 17 o Noema, i a ia i tētahi hui i te marae o Whakatū, i hinga mate manawa a Te One. I tāpukena ia i te wāhi mō te RSA i te urupā o te kōawa o Te Mātenga (Marsden Valley), ā, mahue ake ana ko tana wahine me ngā tamariki.