Exiled to the Chatham Islands without trial along with captured Hauhau, he experienced visions and became a religious leader.
In 1868 he led the escape of 168 prisoners, seizing the schooner Rifleman and sailing back to the North Island where he began a series of raids.
He was pardoned in 1883 but continued to be active in spreading the Ringatū message of peace and reclaiming land from Pakeha.
He was born at Te Pā-o-Kahu in the Gisborne region as a son of Hōne Rangipātahi (father) and Hine Turākau (mother), of the Rongowhakaata tribe (iwi).
[1] Their sub-tribe (hapū) was Ngāti Maru, whose villages were situated near the Awapuni lagoon, where the Waipaoa River runs into the ocean.
He took on the role of a "social bandit", breaking into settlers' homes and stealing goods as part of a plunder party.
Local chiefs were asked by settlers to work with the local runanga (Māori council) to solve problems with Te Kooti but Te Kooti's men persisted in taking pigs, horses, cattle and alcohol, angering the runanga run by senior chiefs.
Nevertheless, Te Kooti established a faith named Ringatū ("upraised hand") which gained many followers, and is still present in New Zealand society today.
On 4 July 1868, Te Kooti led an escape, and with 168 other prisoners seized the schooner Rifleman, with supplies and rifles, scuttled another vessel the Florence so that the alarm could not be raised and set off back to the North Island.
[10] The Pākehā sailors were allowed to live and set sail for the coast of New Zealand with help from the Māori hijackers.
On the fourth day at sea, the ship was becalmed and Te Kooti declared that a sacrifice was needed.
Upon their arrival at Whareongaonga in Poverty Bay, Te Kooti asked the Māori King Movement and the Tuhoe tribes for refuge but was rejected.
From 1869 to 1872, Te Kooti and his followers raided throughout the central North Island while being pursued by their colonial and Māori enemies.
In 1878 Te Kooti was thrown out of a hui at Hikurangi, which had been called by the government, because he had broken the ban on alcohol that was enforced by King Tāwhiao.
However, his past violence had not been forgotten and the local magistrate arrested him and imprisoned him, citing an anticipatory breach of the peace.