He was the priest navigator of the Te Arawa waka, and upon his arrival in Aotearoa he journeyed inland, seeking land for his people.
He arrived at Pākā Bay and found a tūāhu (altar) already constructed by Tia (an important tupuna for Tūwharetoa) that included green leaves, indicating it was of recent construction.
Ngātoro-i-rangi used old, scorched materials to build his own tūāhu, which he used to conduct certain sacred rites and to establish his claim to the lands.
Accepting Ngātoro-i-rangi's claim, Tia left for Titiraupenga on the western shores of Lake Taupō.
[citation needed] Missionaries renamed Pākā 'Hamaria' in the mid-1800s (a transliteration of Samaria).