He rite a Te Whakatōhea ki te nuinga o ngā iwi Māori, i koa rātou i te whakatūnga o ngā ture Pākehā me te Hāhi Karaitiana, hei whakatau i ngā pakanga ā-iwi. Tino kino ngā pakanga i waenganui i ngā iwi i te whā tekau tau atu i te huringa o te rau tau 1800, te wā o ngā ‘Pakanga Mau Pū’.
He wā pai te wā o te hainatanga o te Tiriti o Waitangi me te taenga mai o ngā mihingare
Te kōhuru i a Te Wākana (Carl Völkner)
I whakatūpato a Te Whakatōhea i a Te Wākana kia kaua e hoki ki tō rātou rohe nā te whakapae he heri kōrero a ia mā te kāwanatanga. Nō te tau 1865 i e raruraru ana te tāone o Ōpōtiki e ngā Hauhau, ka whakamatea a Te Wākana. Hei utu mō tōna mate, ka raupatutia e te kāwanatanga te e 144,000 eka i raro i te Ture mō te Whakanoho i te Hunga Mārie (New Zealand Settlement Act) o 1863. Ko tētahi anō take e hiahia ai te kāwanatanga ki aua whenua, hei whakanoho i ngā tāngata whai mai tāwāhi. Ka raupatutia te takutai atu i Maraetōtara ki te awa o Waiaua. Ka whiua ngā hapū kia noho ki tētahi rāhui whenua iti ki Ōpape.
Nō te tau 1952 utua ai e te Karauna tētahi wāhanga o te paremata mō tēnei hara, i tukuna he pūtea e 20,000 pāuna ki Te Whakatōhea. Nā tēnei tahua ka tū te Poari Kaitiaki o Te Whakatōhea.
Te Whakatōhea i ēnei rā
E ono ngā hapū o Te Whakatōhea kei te ora i ēnei rā: Ko Ngāti Ruatakena (Ngāti Rua), Ngāti Patumoana, Ngāti Ngahere, Ngāti Tamahaua, Ngāti Ira, Te Ūpokorehe.
Ko te Poari o Te Whakatōhea te kaiwhakahaere o ngā rawa o te iwi, pēnei i ētahi whare nunui me ētahi pāmu e rua. I tua atu, kei te āwhina te Poari i ngā whare kōhungahunga me ngā ratonga hauora a te iwi. Kua tū ētahi kaupapa whakaako i ngā mahi pāmu, te whāngai manuhiri, te ahuwhenua, te ruku moana tae noa ki ngā mahi arumoni, te whakahaere pakihi, ngā mahi rorohiko. Kua pakari a Te Whakatōhea ki te kuhu ki ngā whitiwhitinga kōrero me te kāwanatanga kia hua ai he whakataunga whānui mō ōna kerēme.
