Ko Rota Waitoa te Māori tuatahi o te hāhi Mihinare i iriiritia e te mihinare e Octavius Hadfield ki Waikanae i te tau 1841. E ai ki te kaiārahi hapori a Kahurangi Martin, 'he tangata pakihiwi nui, mata nui, harakoa hoki ia, anō nei tōna āhua he Awherikana' (Ann Martin, Our Māoris. London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1884, p. 175). Whai muri i tona whakawāhinga i te tau 1853 ka tū ia hei minita ki Te Araroa i te Tai Rāwhiti i te wā e ngaro haere ana te awe o ngā mihinare Pākehā ki waenganui i te Māori. Ka ātete ia i te Kīngitanga, ā, ka tū hoki ia ki ngā pakanga ki ngā Hauhau ki te Tai Rāwhiti i te tau 1865.