Contemporary sources seems to call her Teha'apapa I instead, disregarding the ruling queen by the same name at the time Captain Cook visited the island.

Born in Raiatea, princess Maerehia (Mary) was the only surviving daughter of King Tamatoa of Ra'iatea (1797–1857) and his commoner wife Mahuti of Vaiari.

Ari'imate left for Tahiti with the China men aboard the French steamship Guichen to join some members of his family who he had to bring back to Huahine.

Part of the population was unhappy with the king's decision to hand over the Chinese and accused him of having sold the government of Huahine to the French.

[12] The following day, the new government changed its mind and decided to retain the Chinese and requested Ariimate to become the Prime Minister, but he refused to take the office.

The latter wrote a letter to the governor of Tahiti asking him to cancel the recently signed treaty in order to avoid war, without taking into account the opinion of the population.

A messenger went to each of the villages to gather the people, and early in the morning it was expected to come across Vaaie and his group, responsible for all the unrest on the island of Huahine.

[13] On July 24, 1868, in order to avoid an unnecessary war for his people, Ari'imate accepted the sanction of the chiefs and a lasting peace was established on the island.