Nā runga i ngā kupu whakaari a Te Kooti arā ngā tāngata i ara ake hei rangatira i muri i a ia. I te okinga o Te Kooti i te tau 1893, ka rere ngā whakapae a ētahi ko rātou tonu tōna tuarua – te ‘Tama’, te Mīhaia. Heoi ko te tangata rongonui o tērā hunga ko Rua Kēnana.
Ka haere a Rua ki Tūranga
I te tau 1906 ka tohia a Rua ki te ingoa o Hepetipa e tutuki ai ngā kupu whakaari a Te Kooti i a ia. Ka tere atu a Rua me ōna rangatira 80 o Tūhoe me Ngāti Awa mā runga hōiho ki Tūranga, kia tūtaki ki a Kīngi Erueti te tuawhitu; i āta tohua te waru tekau hei tūtaki i tērā mahi. Ko tana rautaki kia hokona anō te whenua ki te koura (te taimana rānei) i te tama tonu a Kūini Wikitōria. I te kore puta mai o te kīngi, ka takoto i a Rua te tikanga ake o te haere: ‘Ko au te kīngi. Kei konei au, kei te tu i runga i tewāpu, me te iwi.’1
Maungapōhatu
Ka whakahokia e Rua tana iwi ki te take o te maunga tapu o Tūhoe, arā, o Maungapōhatu, ki reira whakatū i te kāinga hōu. Ko ngā whare whakahirahira i hangaia e ia i te tau 1908 ko ana tauira anō o Hiona me Hiruhārama Hōu ki te tāone o Rāwiri. I tā rātou ū anō ki te maungarongo kore rawa tētahi o rātou i rēhita mō te Pakanga Tuatahi.
Ka mauherehere a Rua
I te marama o Aperira 1916 ka mauherehia a Te Rua mō te hoko huna i te waipiro, he whakapae kanene noa. I te whakaekenga o te kāinga rā ka pūhia e te pirihimana tana tamaiti a Toko rāua ko tōna huanga a Te Maipi. E whitu ngā whakapae ā-ture i whakakorengia, ā, kotahi i ū tonu, arā, mō te whakahē ‘rangatira’ i te mauheretanga (i mua atu).
Ki tā ngā pononga titiro atu, ko te Karaiti tonu a Te Rua. Ka tuaruahia anō e tērā o āna tama e Mau tāna kōrero: ‘“If you don’t kill me with one shot, that to let you people know that I am the Son of the living God.” So they shoot him all right. … I myself have been bathing that wound ever since.' ("Ki te kore e mate au i a koe ki te matā kotahi, ka mōhio ai koutou, ko au te Tama a te Atua ora." Na, ka puhia tonutia a ia ... ko au tonu ki te whakakaukau i taua taotūtanga mai i taua wā).2
I tōna putanga i te mauhere, ka tahuri a Rua kia hanga anō i a Maungapōhatu i te tau 1927 e whakatika ai mō te mutunga o te ao i te kōkirikiri auahi tūroa. I te kore puta mai o te Atua, ka whakataua nā te hē o tana iwi, ā, ka kīia he wā anō e tatū ai ngā rā mutunga. I te tau 1937 ka mate a Te Rua ka ōhākī ake hoki mō tōna aranga mai anō.
