Ko Maata (Martha) Rātana – taihoa ake karanga kētia ana ko Te Reo T. W. R. Hura – tētahi o ngā tamariki tokowhitu a Te Urumanaao Ngāpaki rāua ko tana tāne, ko Tahupōtiki Wīremu Rātana, te tangata nāna i tīmata te Hāhi Rātana. I whānau mai a Maata i te 16 o Hānuere (Hune rānei) o te tau 1904, i te kāinga i tapaina i taua wā ko Ōrākeinui, i te poraka o Waipū, nō muri mai i riro tētahi wāhanga o taua poraka hei wāhi whakatū i te pā o Rātana. Ko ngā iwi me ngā hapū o tōna matua ko Ngāti Rangīwaho me Ngā Wairiki (he hapū ēnei nō Ngāti Apa), ā, nō Ngā Rauru me Ngāti Hine o Whanganui hoki a ia. Nō ētahi o ngā hapū maha o Whanganui me Te Āti Awa anō hoki tōna whaea a Te Urumanaao. He mea whāngai a Maata e ētahi o ōna kaumātua o Ngāti Ruanui, arā, e Wiremu Tūpito Maruera rāua ko tana wahine, ko Ngauare, ki Pātea, ā, tekau mā whā rawa tana pakeke, kātahi anō ka whakahokia atu ia ki ōna mātua. E noho ana a Maata i te kāinga o ōna mātua i te 8 o Noema o te tau 1918, i te kitenga o tana matua i te mea tuatahi o ana whakakitenga, ka tīmata tana whakaora tangata, kawe ake hoki i tētahi kaupapa whakahou i te whakapono.
Nō te pihinga mai o te hāhi a Rātana i piri kau ai a Maata, ā, ko ia tonu tētahi o te ope i te taha ake o te Māngai (te īngoa ake rā o tōna matua) e kawe haere nei i ana mīhana huri noa i te motu. He wā anō i pai ki te Māngai kia tīmataria ia mīhana, ia mīhana ki te hīmene nei, ‘E Ihu, e te Kīngi Nui’ ā, i āta tohua atu e ia ko Maata hei tīmata i te waiata. Kāore i roa i muri i te tīmatanga o te mahi a Rātana, i tapaina e ia a Maata ki te īngoa wairua nei, ki ‘Te Reo-i-hāpai-i-te-hīmene-e-Ihu-e-te-Kīngi-Nui’. Whakapotoa ana tōna īngoa ko Te Reo. He wahine pai a Maata ki te purei hōkī, ā, i uru atu ia ki te tīma o Rātana e tākaro ana i ngā whakataetae i Te Matau-a-Māui (Hawke’s Bay), i Te Wairarapa, i Whanganui anō hoki.
He mema a Te Reo nō te rōpū kōnohete o Rātana, ā, i haere anō ia i te taha o tōna matua i ana hāereerenga atu ki tāwāhi i ngā tau 1924 me 1925. I waiata, i haka te ope rangatahi hei mahi moni hei utu i ngā nama, torotoro hoki i te tangata ki te whakarongo ki te kauwhau a Rātana. I a rātou e hoki mai ana ki Aotearoa i te mutunga o te haerenga tuatahi, i peka atu te ope ki Hongipua (Hong Kong) me Hapanihi. I a rātou i Hapanihi, takaroatia ana te wehe mai o tō rātou kaipuke e tētahi porotū a ngā kaimahi moana, ā, whakamanuhiritia ana rātou e tētahi Pīhopa Mihingare o Hapanihi, ko Nakada Juji tōna īngoa. Pū kau ana te tino hoanga pono o te Māngai rāua ko te Pīhopa, ā, nā te Pīhopa tonu i whakahaere te mārenatanga o Te Reo ki a Huia (Boyce) Whenuaroa o Ngāti Tūwharetoa me Ngāti Kahungunu, ko ia tonu nei tētahi o ngā mema o te ope Rātana, i te 8 o Noema o te tau 1925. I tō rāua mārenatanga mau ake ana te wahine me tana hoa tāne i ngā kākahu tūturu o Hapanihi, ā, ko tētahi o ngā koha i tukua mai mā rāua, he hoari ā-kawa Hapanihi. Ka noho ko tēnei moenga hei take whakapae a ētahi e mea ana he whakamoe kē te mahi a Rātana i te iwi Māori ki te iwi Hapanihi, ā, i te mutunga mai kei te iwi Hapanihi kē te oranga mō te Māori. Heoi anō, i whakahē a Rātana i ēnei whakapae; ko tāna noa e whai ana kia hōrapa atu tōna māramatanga ki te ao whānui. I mau tonu te pā haere o Rātana ki ōna hoa Hapanihi, ā, kāore i mutu te whakaū a Te Reo me tōna hoa tāne i taua piringa rā.
Kore rawa a Te Reo i whai tamariki i tana mārena tuatahi, ā, nō muri mai i moe tāne anō ia. Ko te īngoa o tana tāne tuarua ko Rāpata Tihimatangi Raumati o Te Āti Awa; tokorua ā rāua tamariki. Tokoono ā rāua tamariki ko tana tāne tuatoru, ko Kei Rēnata Hura; he tangata a Hura nō Ngāti Hine me Ngā Puhi. I mārenatia rāua ki Pariroa Pā i Pātea, i te 23 o Noema o te tau 1941. He mahi uaua, ihupiro nei te āhua o tā rāua noho ko tana tāne, i a rāua e whakatipu ana i tā rāua whānau i te pāmu o tana tāne e tata atu rā ki Pātea. Heoi anō, kitekitea tonutia ana a Te Reo i Rātana Pā. I te tau 1944, ko ia tētahi o ngā kaikōrero i te huranga o te tohu whakamaharatanga ki tōna matua. I te tau 1957, haere ana rāua ngātahi ko te Tumuaki o taua wā o te Hāhi Rātana o Aotearoa, ko Puhi-o-Aotea Rātahi, ki te torotoro i ngā mōrehu o Te Wairarapa. Hei whaea kēkē a Puhi-o-Aotea ki a Te Reo. I neke a Te Reo me tana hūnuku ki tō rātou kāinga i Ōrākeinui i Rātana i te tau 1967.
I mate a Puhi-o-Aotea Rātahi i Āperira o te tau 1966, ā, nō Hānuere o te tau 1967 i whakakapia ake tōna tūranga e Te Reo hei Tumuaki mō te Hāhi Rātana. Nō taua wā i tāpiritia atu e Te Reo ngā reta o te īngoa o tōna pāpā ki tōna īngoa ake, ā, whāia i mōhiotia whānuitia a ia ko Te Reo T. W. R. Hura. I te 24 o Hānuere o 1967, i tae atu te Kuini Māori, arā, a Te Ātairangikaahu, ki Rātana Pā, ā, i te rā o muri mai i huraina e ia te tohu whakamaharatanga ki a Puhi-o-Aotea. E ai ki a Te Reo me ētahi atu, hei whakatūturutanga te toronga nei mā te whakakitenga a te Māngai, arā, e tae mai ana te wā o te whakakotahitanga i waenganui i te Kīngitanga me te Hāhi Rātana. I taua tau tonu rā, i whakaū a Te Reo rāua ko Te Ātairangikaahu i tētahi kawenata hei whakakotahi ā-wairua i te iwi Māori: kitea ake ana ko te Kīngitanga hei waha i te mana o te iwi Māori, ko te Tumuaki o te Hāhi Rātana hei perehitini mō te kotahitanga hou ā-wairua nei, ā, ka noho mā rāua e tautiaki mai te Māoritanga, tautiaki mai rā i raro i te maru o te tino mana o te Karauna o Peretānia. Ko te tino hua whaikiko i puta i tēnei mahi, ko te nui haere o te mahi tahi mai a ngā iwi o Rātana Pā me ērā o Ngāruawāhia: auau tonu te noho mai a Te Ātairangikaahu me tana ope hei manuhiri i ngā hui nui i tū ki Rātana Pā, ā, i whai wāhi hoki te Tumuaki me ētahi o ngā reo pēne o Rātana ki ngā hui koroneihana a te Kuini Māori i Ngāruawāhia. Nō ngā tau tōmuri o te tekau tau mai i 1980, kua takoto kē te whakahaere kia noho tahi mai ko ngā tapairu tokorua nei hei kaiwhakaruruhau mō ngā tino kaupapa Māori.
E hia tau kē i muri i te whakatūnga atu o Te Reo i whakamau tonu ētahi o ngā wehenga o Rātana ki a ia. He wahine pūmau a Te Reo ki te whakapono Karaitiana, ā, ko tāna me awhi kē te Hāhi Rātana i ngā hāhi Karaitiana katoa, kāore e awhi noa i te Hāhi Rātana anake. Āta whakahēngia mai ana ia e ētahi atu tāngata mō āna whāinga me ōna whakaaaro. I raru pea anō tōna rongo he noho kē mai pea nō te whānau Hura i tā rātou pāmu i Pātea, mahue kē ana te noho i te whare o te Māngai, i Whare Mārama i Rātana Pā. Na, ka roa nei ia e tumuaki ana ka mahue noa mai ko ia, ko tōna teina, ko Piki-te-ora, me ngā wāhine nei, me Hūhana Toka rāua ko Mariana Marsh ngā mōrehu o te ope i haere nei rātou ko te Māngai i ōna haerenga. Nā te pēnei, ka noho ko rātou ngā tino tohunga mō ana whakaakoranga, ā, taro ake i pū ai te aroha me te whakahōnore o te iwi katoa o Rātana i a Te Reo.
I te takiwā o te mutunga atu o te tau 1977 i karangatia e Te Reo he hui ki Rātana Pā hei whakatū i tētahi komiti hei whakahaere i te nūpepa a te Hāhi, ko te īngoa nei ko Te Whetū Mārama o Te Kotahitanga. He wā anō i taki whakahokia ake e Te Reo te īngoa o ‘Ihu’, me ‘te Karaiti’ ki roto i āna kōrero me āna whakaakoranga (he mea whakarere ēnei īngoa e te Māngai i ōna tau o muri mai, he pai kē nōna ki te īngoa o te ‘Tama’). Ko tētahi o ngā mahi whakamutunga atu a Te Reo, he whakamana i te nūpepa, arā, te wāhi anake e mau mai ana ngā tuhituhinga o te nuinga noa atu o ngā whakaakoranga a te Māngai.
I te wā i a Te Reo, ka noho ko te mahi nui ko te whakahou i ngā whare i Rātana Pā te tino kaupapa ake mā te Hāhi. Mai i te tau 1975, i hāngai ngā mahi ki te hanga ake anō i a te Manuao. Ko tēnei whare, i whakatūwheratia i te tau 1938, te koha whakamutunga a te Māngai ki tōna iwi. Mai i Āperira o te tau 1979 i kohia mai te moni $750,000 te nui hei whakahou i te whare nā runga i ētahi haere whakatairanga i te kaupapa nei i ngā rohe o te Hāhi Rātana. I tae rawa atu a Te Reo ki Waihopai (Invercargill) me Ahipara hoki, taki mau atu i ētahi o ngā reo pēne matua e rima o Rātana, ka hia marama kē rātou e taki haere ana. Ahakoa kua āhua whitu tekau mā rima nei te pakeke o te kuia rā, whakaritea ake ana ētahi atu toronga anō mō te tau 1980.
Nō Noema o te tau 1982, i oti te hanga mai o te Manuao, oti hoki te utu o ngā nama katoa. Atu i tēnā ka huri a Te Reo me ngā kaiārahi o te Hāhi ki te whakahou i te temepara, tētahi mahi nui kē rā tēnei i tata pau noa ngā tau o te tekau tau mai i 1980. Ahakoa anō te whakaritenga mai o ētahi atu haere anō kāore i āhei a Te Reo ki te whakatutuki i aua haere katoa. Nō te tau 1981 i mate tāna tāne, a Rēnata, ā, nō te tau 1984 i mate hoki tōna teina, a Piki-te-ora, arā, ko ia nei te ūpoko o te rōpū Āwhina (koinei te rōpū wāhine matua o te Hāhi Rātana), te tino hoa mahi o Te Reo i ngā mahi mā te Hāhi. Tino māuiuitia ana a Te Reo tonu i taua tau.
Ahakoa te taikuia haeretia o Te Reo, i mau tonu a ia ki ngā mahi a te Hāhi Rātana, mau rā tana whakahaere mai i ngā hui whakapūmau, me ngā hui whakanui ia tau o te 8 o Noema me te 25 o Hānuere. I mau tonu hoki te whakatairanga haere a te kuia nei i te kaupapa o te whakakotahitanga o te iwi Māori, ā mate noa ia i te hōhipera o Whanganui i te 25 o Hepetema o te tau 1991, e waru tekau mā whitu tōna pakeke. I tanumia a ia ki Rātana Pā, ā, tokowhitu ana tamariki e ora tonu ana.