He kaihautū rongonui a Īhāia Pōrotu Puketapu nō Te Āti Awa ki ngā rohe o Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington) me Te Awakairangi (Hutt Valley). I whānau ia ki Waiwhetū i Te Awakairangi i te 7 o Pēpuere o te tau 1887, ko ia nei te mea pakeke o ngā tamariki tāne, tokowhā nei rātou, me te tuahine ka mutu. Nō ngā hapū o Te Matehou, o Hāmua, o Puketapu, arā o Te Āti Awa, tana pāpā a Hapi Tūtūā Puketapu me tana māmā hoki, me Mihi Kōrama Woodgate. He kāwai Ingarihi anō hoki tō tōna māmā, hei mokopuna nei ia mā James ‘Worser’ Heberley, he tangata e tino mōhiotia ana i te wā e tīmata ana te nohonoho mai a te Pākehā ki Pōneke (Wellington). Ko tētahi o ngā tūpuna o tōna pāpā ko Te Rira Pōrutu o Te Matehou, ko ia nei he rangatira nō te pā o Pipitea, nāna nei i haina te Tiriti o Waitangi. He pānga tata nei tō tōna wahine, tō Te Awa ki te poropiti rā o Taranaki, ki a Te Whiti-o-Rongomai.
I a ia e taitama ana, arā, tekau mā waru, mā iwa kē rānei tōna pakeke i te wā haringa atu i a ia ki a Te Whiti me ērā o ngā kaumātua i Parihaka i Taranaki, ki te ako i a ia ki ngā whakaakoranga me ngā rapunga whakaaro o tōna iwi. Kātahi te wā nui ki a Puketapu ko tēnei, waihoki rā ko te whakakite i tukua mai e Te Whiti ki a ia. Ina koa ko tōna tikanga ki a Puketapu, waiho ake māna e whakatutuki te whakatakanga a Te Whiti mō te āhua o te noho pai me te mahi tahi hoki a te Māori rāua ko te Pākehā i Te Whanganui-a-Tara. Kapi noa te rima tekau tau e moemoeā ana a Puketapu kia tutuki i a ia te tikanga tapu nei.
Pau noa te nuinga o te wā mahi o Puketapu he pūtia nei te mahi i te whare patu mīti, he kaikānataraki mahi rori, ā, i ngā tau i muri ake ka noho nei ia hei kaimahi whakatū whare. I ngā tau i tīmata ai te whakatū i te Rōpū Reipa o Aotearoa, i tīmata anō hoki tana whakahoahoa tata atu ki ngā mema Māori o te Pāremata, me ngā kaihautū pērā i a Pita Pereiha (Peter Fraser) rāua ko Waata Naahi (Walter Nash). Tau ana tōna awe ki ngā mema Pāremata me ngā āpiha a te kāwanatanga, ka noho nei ia hei mema i te komiti tohutohu Māori a te kāwanatanga Reipa tuatahi. I whai wāhi anō hoki ia ki te kaupapa e ahu whakamua ai te taha mana o te Māori, ā, ko te Ture Toko i te Ora me te Pai mō te Iwi Māori (Māori Social and Economic Advancement Act) o 1945 te mutunga mai.
Nō te tau 1937 i whakaaro te kāwanatanga ki te tango ake i ngā whenua o Te Āti Awa i Waiwhetū kātahi ka wawae ai hei whakatū whare kāwanatanga. He mōhio nō Puketapu ko tēnei tētahi o ngā poraka whenua he mea whakawehe mai mō ngā Māori i te hokonga mai a te Kamupene o Niu Tīreni (New Zealand Company) i te whenua o Te Awakairangi, i kore ai e ū taua take rā. I muri iho, i ngā tau 1942 ki 1943, kua tangohia kētia te whenua rā i raro i te Ture mō ngā Mahi Nunui (Public Works Act) o 1928. Hāunga rā tīmata ana te mahi whakariterite a Puketapu, kia riro mā te kāwanatanga e hoko mai te whenua rā hei whakatū whare kāwanatanga mō ngā Māori i runga i taua whenua e noho ana. I tohe tonu a Puketapu kia mau te noho kotahi a tōna iwi, arā, kore rawa ia i whakaae kia tītaria atu ngā kāinga o ngā Māori ki waenganui i ērā o ngā Pākehā. Waihoki rā, eke tonu ana ki tāna i tohe ai, ka whakatūria nei kia rua tekau mā whā ngā whare.
Nō ngā tau whakamutunga o te tekau tau atu i 1940 i tīmata te nukunuku mai o te maha o te rangatahi Māori ki Te Awakairangi, kimi mahi ai. Hei whakahaere i te taha tikanga Māori me ngā mahi hākinakina i whakatūria ai te rōpū Māori a Te Aroha o Te Awakairangi (Te Aroha (Hutt Valley) Māori Association). Kitea ana i konei te kaha aranga ake o ngā honohono ā-iwi i te rohe o Pōneke nei. Waihoki kitea ana hoki e Puketapu te tika o te mahi i tētahi wāhi hei papa tūranga mō te iwi e tupu ake nei, ka tīmata te mahi moni a te rōpū Māori hei whakatū whare nui. Whakahaerea ana e te rōpū kapa haka Māori o Te Aroha he kōnohete mahi moni, ā, tono āwhina rawa atu ana hoki rātou i te mema Pāremata o te rohe, i a Waata Naahi, me ngā karapu taua hoki. I te marama o Mei i te tau 1959 i oti te anga o te whare, ā, i reira ka tīmata te mahi mai i ngā moana tukutuku me ngā whakairo. Ko ētahi o ngā mahi nei mō te whare he mea hanga mō te whakakitenga whakanui i te rau tau o Aotearoa (New Zealand Centennial Exhibition) i te tau 1940. Kāti he maha tonu hoki ngā whakairo i tāraitia e te rōpū whakairo, ko Hōne Taiapa o Ngāti Porou nei tō rātou ūpoko, me ngā moana tukutuku i oti i te rōpū mahi, ko Ngaroahiahi Waiwai o Tūhoe rāua ko Roa Wharepōuri (hei tamāhine whakaangi mā Apirana Ngata) i te whakahaere.
Ko te whare nei, he mea tapa ko Arohanui ki te Tangata, te whakaritenga o te kupu whakaari i tukua atu rā e Te Whiti ki a Puketapu e rima tekau tau ki mua. Nā te mea he tohu waka whakaeke ki Aotearoa nei te tikanga o ngā pou whakairo e pou nei i te taiapa o te whare, ka noho tēnei hei whare mō ngā Māori katoa; nā runga hoki i ngā āwhina mai a te iwi Pākehā i noho ai tēnei whare hei whare mō ngā iwi e rua. Kei roto i te whare anō hoki ngā pou whakairo, he tū wehe kē te hanga, mō Te Whiti rāua ko tana hoa poropiti, ko Tohu Kākahi. Nō te marama o Hepetema o te tau 1960 i whakatuwheratia te whare nei, arā, i te tau tonu i ūhia ai a Puketapu ki te tohu OBE mō ana mahi mā tōna iwi Māori.
E rua ngā mārenatanga o Īhāia Puketapu. Nō te takiwā pea o te tau 1907 i moea e ia tana wahine tuatahi a Amīria Ake Ake, i Te Hāwera, i mate nei i te tau 1916. Nō te 15 o Maehe o te tau 1930 i mārena ai rāua ko Vera May Yeates i Pōneke nei. Kāti koa nō te 1 o Hūrae o te tau 1971 i mate ai a Īhāia Puketapu i te taha raro o Te Awakairangi. Mahue mai ana ko tana wahine tuarua me āna tamariki, arā, tokoono o āna tamāhine tokowhitu, me ngā tama tokotoru.