Te Āniwaniwa Harepeka Nako Hona was born in 1938 at Mahinepua in "her grandmother's wash house".
[1] Her father was a local policeman, who undertook successful campaigns against alcohol abuse and home brewing.
[1] After Hona left teaching she joined the Department of Conservation (New Zealand) as the Ngā Puhi representative, where part of her work was to enable better relations between Māori and the white population, particularly in terms of archaeological heritage.
[2] This work was described as a "suicidal feat" in the magazine Tu Tangata; in the same article Hona described how there was a thirst from younger Māori for language and tradition that was being lost as older people died.
[1] Hona was mostly recognised her creative writing and poetry published in a wide range of journals in Māori and in English.