E ai ki te kōrero, i whānau a Maraea Mōrete i te 24 o Hūrae 1844 ki Whakaari, e pātata ana ki Tāngōio i roto o Te Matau-a-Māui (Hawke's Bay). Ki tētahi kōrero ko Waikōkopu ki Te Māhia kē te wāhi i whānau ai ia. Ko Puihi rāua ko William Morris ōna mātua. Ko Maria Morris anō tētahi o ana īngoa. He wahine whai mana a Puihi nō Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki, ngā iwi o te mānia ki uta o Tūranga (Gisborne). Ko William Morris, he tangata Airihi i whakawhiti mai i Poihākena (Sydney), New South Wales, ki Aotearoa nei i te tau 1837 pea. I te teihana patu tohorā a J. W. Harris o Tūranganui-a-Kiwa (Poverty Bay) a ia e mahi ana, ā, i muri iho, i Te Matau-a-Māui, me te whakahaere anō i tana toa hokohoko. I tukuna tā rāua mātāmua a Maraea ki te kura a te Rōpū Māori Wēteriana (Wesleyan Native Institution), i Ākarana (Auckland). Nō te tau 1856, ka mate a Puihi. Nō te hokinga mai o Maraea ki tana pāpā i te tau 1861, ka whakatika, ka noho kē mai i te iwi o tana whaea i Tūranga. Nō te tau 1863, ka moe i tana tāne i a Pera Taihuka, nō ngā kāwai rangatira. He tangata piri pono ki te Mīhana Mihinare i Waerenga-a-Hika.
I te tau 1865, he pākaha mai nō te Pai Mārire, ka riro te nuinga o ngā tāngata o Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki ki te whawhai. He wā, i whai rawa a Maraea rāua ko Pera i te kaupapa Pai Mārire. Ki a Maraea he tikanga whakawai. Kāore a ia i aro atu, ka whakarērea e ia.
Kātahi rāua ka heke ki Matawhero i te awa o Waipaoa, ka noho i te kāinga o Wī Pere mā. I te marama o Noema 1868, ka patua e ngā tāngata a Te Kooti te hunga Pākehā e noho ana i ngā whenua i runga atu o te awa. Tūpono noa tētahi o ngā tira whawhai ki a Wī Pere mā, ka hopukina a Maraea rāua ko tana tama me ētahi atu anō o rātou. Ko te nuinga i hohoro atu. I te urunga mai o Pera ki ngā mauhere, ka whakahaua e Te Kooti kia patua rātou ko tētahi whānau anō. Ko Maraea rāua ko tana tama i puritia ki te puni wāhine herehere. E rua wiki i muri mai ka mau herehere ko Wī Pere mā. I te kakaritanga ki a Te Kooti i Mākāretu omaoma atu ana ngā herehere. Ko Maraea tonu te kaiārahi i tōna rōpū. Ā, i te ngahere ka tūtaki atu ki a Wī Pere mā. E rima ngā rangi e rere ana ka puta. Ka tae ki te kōanga o muri mai ka karangahia a Maraea ki te Kōti Matua (Supreme Court) i Pōneke (Wellington) hei kaiwhakaatu i te whiunga o ngā tāngata a Te Kooti i mau hereheretia e te kāwanatanga.
Taka rawa ki te tau 1869, ka tū a Maraea i te Kōti Whenua Māori i Tūranga, ki te pupuri i ngā whenua o tōna whānau. He whenua nui tonu tōna i whakahaerengia ai – mai i te mātāpuna o Waipaoa, heke noa ki ngā mānia o Tūranga. Ka mau i a ia te whenua, ka haere ake ana tungāne me ana tāina ki reira nohonoho ai.
I whakaahuatia a Maraea e mau ana i ana kākahu Māori, kākahu Pākehā hoki. He wahine mau moko. Nō ngā tau o muri atu i 1860 pea ngā whakaahua nei. Nō ērā wā i te tau 1873 ka whānau te tama a Maraea rāua ko J. B. Poynter. He tangata mahi pāmu tērā. I ngā tau o muri mai, ka tahuri a Maraea ki te whakapapa i ngā kōrero, mai i te wā i haere ai a ia ki te kura, tae noa ki tōna rerenga i a Te Kooti. I whakaurua ētahi o ngā whakahaere a te Pai Mārire, me te wā o tōna hereheretanga. Taka rawa atu ki ērā wā i te 1890 ka huri a Maraea ki te Ope Whakaora (Salvation Army). Ko tōna kāinga i Ruangārehu i Te Karaka, i runga i ngā whenua o tōna iwi. He wera nōna i te ahi, i mate ai i te 8 o Oketopa 1907. Ka tāpukena ki te taha tonu o tōna whaea o Puihi i te urupā o te iwi i Waerenga-a-Hika. E rua ngā minita Mihinare whakahaere i ngā karakia tuku, kotahi i te reo Māori, kotahi i te reo Pākehā. Ko te poroporoaki nā te āpiha o te Ope Whakaora.