When he was 17 years of age, he was among those who watched from the bank of the river as the chosen warriors fought in the battle of Moutoa Island[3] in May 1864.

[5] He was a popular orator for young men who looked up to him as the last of the great Māori warriors of the colonial wars.

[10] Hōri Pukehika served as a civic leader in his home community, and he coordinated the annual New Zealand riverboat and Māori canoe championships.

In 1908, while serving as the Native Sanitary Inspector he retrieved the armour which was then archived in the Dominion Museum in Wellington.

[2] According to the Records of the Auckland Museum (2004), Pukehika worked with the following carvers: Te Paku-o-Te-Rangi 1877, Poutama 1888, Tawhitinui 1880s, and Maranganui 1905.

She was highlighted in the exposition report by James Cowan: Sir Peter Henry Buck KCMG DSO, also known as Te Rangi Hīroa or Te Rangihīroa, who led the exposition pā's sanitary infrastructure design and maintenance, admitted that he first learned about Māori weaving from by Tira Pukehika.

[19] Hōri Pukehika died at Pungarehu on 30 May 1932, said to be aged 85, and was survived by his second wife Tira, three daughters and two sons.