Ko Taiwhanga he uri nō Tamakiterā. Ko ōna mātua ko Tawatawa rāua ko tana wahine, ko Wāhi. Ko tōna hapū ko Ngāti Tautahi o Te Uri-o-Hua nō Ngāpuhi, ki Kaikohe. Tokowhitu ngā tamariki a Taiwhanga rāua ko tana wahine mātua ko Māta Rawa o Te Arawa. Tokotoru i mate wawe. Nā tana wahine iti, nā Mere, ko tā rāua tamaiti kotahi.
Nō te mea he rangatira, he toa taua a Taiwhanga nā Hongi Hika ka uru ia ki te pakanga tuatahi a Ngāpuhi ki ngā iwi o Te Moana-a-Toi-te-huatahi (Bay of Plenty) i te tau 1818. I haere tonu tētahi wehenga o te taua nei ki Tapatahi, ki Tokomaru. I reira ka whakaekea te pā, ka tahuna ngā tūwatawata, ka horo.
I te tau 182l ka tīmata tana mahi i te mīhana i Kerikeri. Ko John Butler te mihinare i taua wā. Kore i roa kua riro mā Taiwhanga e whakahaere ngā mahi ahu whenua. Ki tā Butler, kua mātau hoki ki te para i te whenua hei māra kai, hei whakatipu wīti, ka tapahi, ka wehewehe i ngā pata hei mahi parāoa pūrere. Ko tana utu he toki Pākehā ia marama. Āpiti atu hoki, ko tana mīharo ki ngā whakahaere a ngā mihinare – ki ngā mea tauhou, ngā taputapu, ā rātou kai i whakatipu ai, me ā rātou kararehe. I mau katoa i a ia, ka noho ia hei tohunga mō aua mahi. Ka kite atu tana rahinga, ka whai atu kia mau hoki i a rātou ērā whakahaere.
I muri mai, i te tau 1822 pea, ka nuku a Taiwhanga ki Parramatta i Ahitereiria, ka noho ki te minita whakahaere o New South Wales i reira, ki a Te Mātenga (Samuel Marsden). Kātahi ka tino nekehia atu tōna mātauranga ki ngā mahi ahu whenua, mahi pāmu, aha ake, aha ake. Tata ki te 18 marama tana noho i Ahitereiria, ka hoki mai i te taha i a Hōri Karaka (George Clarke) i Maehe o 1824, mā runga i te manuao a ngā Wīwī, ko La Coquille. He tangata mātau ki te waihanga pū a Hōri Karaka. I te taenga mai, ka haere a Taiwhanga ki Kerikeri mō te wā poto ki te mahi mā Te Rēweti (Richard Davis). He mihinare kē anō tērā.
Ka taka ki te tau 1825, ka riro anō i te ope taua a Hongi ki te pakanga ki a Ngāti Whātua i Te Ika-ā-ranganui i te awa o Kaiwaka pātata atu ki Mangawhai. I reira ka mau te rangatira o Ngāpuhi, a Moka. I roto i te mātotoru o te whawhai ka kahakina oratia mai a Moka e Taiwhanga. Ka hinga a Ngāti Whātua, ka whati, ka whāia, ka patua haeretia tae noa ki Rotorua. I roto i a Te Arawa, ka patua e Taiwhanga tētahi tangata me ana tamariki tokorua. Ko te wahine, ko Māta Rawa, i mau hereheretia e ia. Ka moea hei wahine māna. Pūmau tonu a Māta Rawa ki te āwhina i ngā mahi a Taiwhanga.
I te mutunga, whakarērea ana e Taiwhanga tērā mahi te haere ki te pakanga. Ka huri ki ngā mahi kani rākau i te mīhana i Paihia. I te āhuatanga o ngā Māori o tōna reanga e noho ana ki ngā mihinare, kua whai i ngā mahi Karaitiana, kua mau pūeru Pākehā, kua whai i ngā tikanga Pākehā katoa. He pakari, he hakahaka te tipu o Taiwhanga. He paruhi tana moko. Kua ako hoki i ana tamariki ki ngā tikanga Pākehā. Tētahi, kua whakaae ia ki tā ngā mihinare kia whakamutua te punarua. He whare raupō nei tō rāua ko Māta Rawa. Āu mahi a te tangata 'ringa raupā'! Kore i roa kua tipu he pītiti, he wāina, he wīti. I te whakapaunga o te tau 1826, tēnā noa atu te hua o ana kai – te rīwai, te kānga, te kamokamo, te paukena, te merengi, te aniana, te riki, te pī, me te pāhinipi. Noho ake ana hei tauira mā ētahi atu. Ko Māta, utua ai mō te horoi i ngā kākahu o ngā āpiha o ngā manuao, me ō ngā Pākehā noho i Paihia. I te weranga o tō rāua whare raupō i te tau 1829, waihangatia ana e Taiwhanga he whare hou kia rite ki ō ngā Pākehā. Tētahi mahi anō kua tino mātau a Taiwhanga, ko te tuhituhi reta. Nā reira ka whakatūngia ko ia hei kaitiaki mō te kura mīhana i Paihia mai i te tau 1830–1834.
Nō te mea kua roa te piringa o Taiwhanga ki ngā mihinare o te Rōpū Hāhi Mihinare (Church Missionary Society) ka iriirihia ana tamariki tokowhā i te tau 1829, i Paihia. E ono marama i muri mai, i te 7 o Pēpuere 1830, ko ia tonu i iriirihia ka tapaina ko Rāwiri. Nō te 19 o Hepetema ka whai atu hoki ko Māta. O ngā tāngata whai mana o te motu, ko Taiwhanga te mea tuatahi i huri ki te Whakapono. Ka noho hei āpotoro, hei kaikauwhau mō te Hāhi. Nāna te mahi ki te kauwhau ki ngā iwi kāinga o Pēwhairangi (Bay of Islands), o Te Hokianga, o Whangaroa hoki. Ā, kawe kau ana ia i te Kupu i waenga tonu i ngā hēramana porohaurangi i Kororāreka. Nāna anō te karakia whakarite mō tētahi anō o rātou e whakahemohemo ana. I te tau 1831 ka haere a Taiwhanga i te taha o Te Hāpimana (Thomas Chapman) rāua ko Te Karu Whā (Henry Williams) ki te kawe i te Kupu a Te Karaiti ki ngā iwi o Tauranga, o Rotorua hoki. I ēnei whakaminenga ko Taiwhanga tonu te pūkōrero hei whakamārama i tā rātou kaupapa. Ko ngā whanaunga tonu o Māta ētahi. Nō taua wā anō rā, ka tupu tana whakaaro me tono kia manaakihia e te kāwanatanga o Ingarangi te iwi Māori. Kua kīia hoki kei te whakararuraru mai ngā Wīwī.
Ka taka ki te tau 1834 ka whakatika a Taiwhanga ki te mahi pāmu ki te taha rāwhiti o Kaikohe. Mō tētahi wā nei ka whakahaerengia e ia he kura, ēngari i whakapaua kē tana kaha ki te mahi pāmu. Ka riro mai he pāraharaha, ka tahuri ia ki te hanga parau māna. Tae rawa atu ki te whakamutunga o te tau 1835 e huri pata ana ia hei hoko. Kotahi tau i muri mai e 20 ana kau; ā, kei te hokona ana pata ki ngā kaihokohoko i Pēwhairangi.
Ko Māta, kua pāngia e te ū taetae. Ka pokaina tana ū e te tākuta i te tau 1834, ka kitea ko te mate pukupuku kē nei. Nō te tau 1837 ka mate.
Taka rawa atu ki te tau 1840, ruarua nei ngā hipi a Taiwhanga. Ā, kua hangaia he whare papa hou, me tōna timera. Ko ana pata i ngā tau e rima kua pahemo kua kawe kē te utu mai i te kotahi herengi ki te hāwhe-karauna mō te pāuna kotahi. Ko ia te tangata tuatahi tonu o tēnei whenua ki te hokohoko i ngā hua kau kutētē. Ko te kōrero a tētahi Pākehā o tōna reanga, he tangata pukumahi, he tangata hihiko a Taiwhanga ki te kawe tikanga hei mahi moni.
Na, ka tae ki te huinga o te iwi ki Waitangi kia kōrerohia te Tiriti, ko Taiwhanga tētahi i tautoko i a Hopihona (William Hobson) hei kāwana. Ka tuhia e ia tōna īngoa, ko Rāwiri, ki te Tiriti o Waitangi. I ngā tau pokapū o 1840, e pakanga ana ngā iwi o reira ki te Pākehā, ka tono ia ki a Pīhopa Herewini (G. A. Selwyn) kia āwhinatia tana kura. E noho ana te Pīhopa i Te Waimate i tērā wā. Kua mōhio kē anō rāua ki a rāua. E noho mōhio tonu ana hoki a Taiwhanga nā ngā pakanga i tūnguru ai te tangata ki te hāpai i te Whakapono. Ā, ko te tūmanako kia kore e hē rawa.
Ko tana tama, ko Tāmati Hirini (Thomas Sydney) i whai i ngā whakaritenga o te Tiriti o Waitangi i te tekau tau mai i 1870. E ora tonu ana rānei a Taiwhanga i taua wā? Ko wai ka hua. Ko te kōrero whakamutunga mō Taiwhanga nā tētahi tohunga o Huitene. E ai ki a Sven Berggren, i tō rāua tūtakitanga ko Taiwhanga i Kaikohe i te tau 1874, kua huri kē te rau tau o taua kaumātua.