He was the paramount chief of Ngāti-Whatua, and was a warrior. "He was a high chief of the Tai-tokerau (now Northland); he was also a warrior and a seer. He was of that sub-tribe of the Ngāti Whatua known as Te Roroa, and his home was in the locality of (now) Dargaville, and Kai-hu; and his descendants still live there. A long account of him is given in the book by Percy-Smith, Wars of the Northern against the Southern Tribes."
Biographical sources
- Nga Moteatea: He Maramara Rere No Nga Waka Maha. The Songs: Scattered Pieces From Many Canoe Areas. Comp. A. T. Ngata. Trans. Pei Te Hurinui. Pt. 3. Wellington, N.Z.: Polynesian Soc. 1970. 407.
Fiction
- "He Whakaoriori/A Lullaby." Nga Moteatea: He Maramara Rere No Nga Waka Maha: The Songs: Scattered Pieces From Many Canoe Areas. Comp. Apirana Ngata and trans. Pei Te Hurinui. Pt. 2. Wellington, N.Z.: Published for the Polynesian Society by A. H. & A. W. Reed, 1961.194-199.
- "The text of this song and the explanatory material was dictated by Ngakuru Pene Hare on the 26th of September, 1924" (Nga Moteatea Pt. 2: 195). This lullaby was composed by him for his son, Raeroa" (Nga Moteatea Pt. 2: 195).
- "He Tangi Mo Tu-Whare/A Lament For Tu-Whare." Nga Moteatea: He Maramara Rere No Nga Waka Maha. The Songs: Scattered Pieces From Many Canoe Areas. Comp. A. T. Ngata. Trans. Pei Te Hurinui. Pt. 3. Wellington, N.Z.: Polynesian Soc., 1970. 406-411.