[1] When Moetara was a young man, his uncle Mauwhena (or Mauhena) was the chief of Ngāti Korokoro.
In 1819 Moetara had a leadership position under Patuone, Nene and Tuwhare in a fighting expedition of northern tribes that travelled down the west coast of the North Island as far as Wellington.
[1] When European ships started coming to the Hokianga for timber in the 1820s, Ngāti Korokoro under Mauwhena were well placed to profit from supplying them with food.
One visiting captain, John Rodolphus Kent, married Moetara's sister, Wharo.
[1] On 20 March 1834 Moetara participated in a meeting at Waitangi in the Bay of Islands to select a flag for New Zealand.