I ngā rā o mua tata i tōna rironga i a Aituā, nā Tāwhiao ka mārama mai ai ko wai mō muri i a ia hei Kīngi:
Papa te whaitiri, ka puta Uenuku, ka puta Matariki. Ko Mahuta te kingi!
The thunder crashes, Uenuku appears, Matariki appears. Mahuta is the king!1
Ka whakawahia te tama a Tāwhiao, a Mahuta, hei Kīngi Māori tuatoru e Tupu Taingākawa Te Waharoa, te kaiwhakawahi Kīngi o taua wā.
Ngā Tōrangapū
Ko Mahuta te pane o Te Kauhanganui, me ōna hui. I te rautau 1890 ka whakatata a ia ki Te Kotahitanga (te Pāremata Māori), ahakoa rā, tē taea te whakakotahi. I tētehi hui me Te Kotahitanga i te tau 1895 ka tonoa Te Kīngitanga kia waitohutia te kawenata o Te Kotahitanga. Engari, te kawenata o Te Kīngitanga, nō muri mai i kīia ai ko te kawenata a Mahuta, i waitohutia e te 5,000 tāngata.
I te tau 1898 nā te Mema mō Te Taihauāuru, nā Hēnare Kaihau te Pire Whakakaupapa i Te Kaunihera Māori i kawe ki te Pāremata, i raro i te maru o Mahuta; he huarahi ki te mana Māori motuhake. Ka rukea te pire i mua i te pānuitanga tuarua.
Te Kaunihera Ture
He kaha tonu a Mahuta ki te whakatata i te Māori me te Pākehā. I te tau 1903, ka kitea e ia tētehi huarahi ki te whakahau i te kāwanatanga mā te whakaae i te tono a Pirīmia Richard Seddon kia whai wāhi ia ki te Kaunihera Ture me te manatū. Ko tā Seddon mā reira Te Kīngitanga e tautoko i a ia, ā, ka wātea te hoko i te whenua Māori. Ēngari nō te tau 1906, i tētehi o āna whaikōrero ruarua noa ki roto o Pāremata, i kī a Mahuta kia kaua e noho noa iho ki te whakawātea i te whenua Maori hei nōhanga mā te Pākehā. Me whakawātea e te Pāremata he huarahi e taea ai e te Māori te mahi i āna whenua.’2
I a ia i roto o Te Pāremata ka tukua taupuatia e Mahuta tōna pōtae ki tana teina ki a Te Wherowhero Tāwhiao. Ka mutu i te tau 1910 ka hoki ia ka mau anō ki te pōtae me te tūranga hei Kīngi.
Nā te kaitōrangapu nā Apirana Ngata ēnei whakaaro mō Mahuta i te tau 1900:
Ko te Kīngi o Waikato (a Mahuta) he tangata tūturu ki taua taitara, ā, he tika, māna ngā tūmanako o ngā iwi o Te Kīngitanga e whakaea. He mana tūturu nōna, heoi anō he kaha tonu kit e whaiwhakaaro. Ki a au he kakama, he aro nui ki te kupu tohutohu, he āta korero he whakahangahanga; tērā pea kua āhua haukotia ki tem au ki ngā tikanga o tōna wāhi o Waikato. Ki a au, he kaha ki te whakaara take hei whakaahu whakamua ngā hiahia o tōna iwi, he ngana ki te whakamahi i ngā tūāhuatanga tika o te ao Pākehā hei tautoko i taua whakaahu whakamua mo te iwi.3
Ko Aituā
Ka mate a Kīngi Mahuta i te 9 o Nōema i te tau 1912. Ka hui katoa mai ngā rangatira o Te Motu ki te uhunga, ka kōrerotia ko wai mō muri i a Mahuta. Nā ngā rangatira i tohu ko tāna tama ko Te Rata. Ka whakawahia ia i mua tata tonu o te nehunga o Mahuta ki runga o Taupiri.
