Born in the Wairoa River on the middle reaches of the Wairoa River in northern Hawke Bay, New Zealand, he was recruited as a war leader by Ngāti Tū, who gave him land in Ahuriri, where he became ancestor of the Ngāi Te Ruruku hapū.
[2] He had four sisters - Hinemaka, Hineori, Hinetunge, and Hine-i-nohi - and four brothers - Te Ipu, Raeroa, Hinerara, and Kokotangiao.
Te Ruruku grew up in his parents' pā at Whereinga and Hikawai, near modern Frasertown.
The attackers were confidant that they would win, so when they reached the Wairoa river mouth, they began to dig pit-ovens for cooking Te-O-Tane and his people.
Their mother, Te Whewhera, was furious that they had decided to do this, because Te-O-Tane was her brother-in-law; she went to Manukanui and warned Moewhare, saying "they will not respect my breasts now hanging, so they should fall.
Marangatūhetaua rewarded him with land in the western Hawke's Bay, between Arapawanui and Te Whanganui-a-Orotū.