Teriitaria was the eldest child of King Tamatoa III of Raiatea and Tura’iari’i Ehevahine, a member of the royal family of Huahine.

While still retaining their esteem because of their chiefly rank, the Tamatoa family, which Teriitaria II belonged to, had lost all secular power and had been displaced for half a century on Raiatea.

Raiatea and the temple complex of Taputapuatea marae at Opoa were considered the religious center of Eastern Polynesia and the birthplace of the cult of the war deity, 'Oro.

[12] Her mother was Tura’iari’i Ehevahine, the daughter of Queen Tehaʻapapa I of Huahine, who was ruling when Captain James Cook visited the Society Islands as part of his first voyage in 1769.

[13] Her younger siblings included brother Tamatoa IV and sisters Teriʻitoʻoterai Teremoemoe, Temari'i Ma'ihara, and Teihotu Ta'avea.

[14] Teriitaria shared her name with her half-uncle, King Teriʻitaria I, who was ruling Huahine when Cook brought the Tahitian explorer Omai back to the islands from Europe on his third voyage in 1777.

[16][17][note 3] During the late 1700s and the early 1800s, Pōmare I had established the Kingdom of Tahiti through the consolidation of traditional titles and the military advantage of Western weapons provided by explorers and traders such as Captain Cook.

Pōmare II and his followers fled into exile to his territorial possessions on the neighbouring island of Moorea after his war party was defeated in December 1808.

[26][27] Pōmare II's union with his first wife Tetua remained childless since both were followers of the Arioi, a religious order that worshipped 'Oro and practiced infanticide.

The rest of the missionaries had fled to New South Wales following the defeat of the Tahitian king in 1808 but were asked to return in 1811 by Pōmare II.

[9][48][47][51] In September 1815, the forces of Pōmare II returned to Pare on Tahiti to assert his paramountcy and reconquer the island from the traditionalists led by Opuhara.

[54][55][56][57] British missionary William Ellis, who described the battle as "the most eventful day that had yet occurred in the history of Tahiti", gives a post-facto description of Mahine and Teriitaria preparing for the battle:[note 7] Mahine, the king of Huahine, and Pomare-vahine, the heroic daughter of the king of Raiatea, with those of their people who had professed Christianity, arranged themselves in battle-array immediately behind the people of Eimeo [Moorea], forming the main body of the army.

Mahine on this occasion wore a curious helmet, covered on the outside with plates of the beautifully spotted cowrie, or tiger shell, so abundant in the islands; and ornamented with a plume of the tropic, or man-of-war bird's feathers.

The queen's sister, like a daughter of Pallas, tall, and rather masculine in her stature and features, walked and fought by Mahine's side; clothed in a kind of armour, or defence, made with strongly twisted cords of romaha, or native flax, and armed with a musket and a spear.

Despite the ceremony, Pōmare II, Aimata and the elder Teriitaria noticeably did not take part in the Lord’s Supper (Eucharist) because "they did not yet seem decidedly pious".

[9] Being a minor, Pōmare III was placed under a regency council consisting of his aunt Teriitaria, his mother Teremoemoe and the five principal chiefs of Tahiti.

[9][72][73][74] Some argued that Pōmare II intended to choose Tati,[75] brother of the defeated Opuhara and the ruling chief of Paparā, as the regent and guardian for his son.

[70][78] On 6 September 1826, Commodore Thomas ap Catesby Jones, while in command of the veteran sloop-of-war USS Peacock, signed a treaty with Queen regent Teriitaria and Pōmare III.

[92] Pōmare IV was deposed in 1843 by French naval commander Abel Aubert du Petit-Thouars in an attempt to annex Tahiti.

[9][94] A renewed effort to conquer Huahine was made when Commandant Louis Adolphe Bonard was ordered to go to the island and make a show of force.

During the Battle of Maeva, Territaria’s forces, supported by around 20 Europeans, held the French off for two days, killing 18 and wounding 43, before they abandoned the attempt and sailed away.

[95][96] Edward Lucett, a British merchant and an island shipowner, noted, "Old Ariipae, musket in hand, and with half a dozen cartouch [sic] boxes belted round her slender waist, was there to encourage her people".

[97][98][99] Although Great Britain never intervened militarily, the British naval officer Henry Byam Martin and commander of HMS Grampus, was sent to the Society Islands to spy on the conflict.

Many good stories are told of her in the island wars – in which she always headed her people – and when their courage flagged – she seized a musket – denounced them as cowards, and by her own prowess & personal example retrieved the day.

This alliance was severely tested when the French attempted to characterize it as evidence of Queen Pōmare IV's dominion over the rest of the islands.

[20][111] In 1850, Teriitaria's followers destroyed the cargo and plantation of European trader John Brander for refusing to pay port dues.

Otave had been instrumental in deposing Teriitaria in favor of Teurura'i but now sought to elevate himself as king under the new name Kianmarama (the reign of the moon).

The rebels attacked Teururai on 18 December and fighting continued until 7 January 1853 when the two parties agreed to negotiate a peaceful settlement to the conflict.

Despite repeated promises by all islanders to abide by the treaty, hostilities recommenced with Teriitaria "continu[ing] to make unceasing threats of attack on Teururai".

On 26 March, the French steamer took away the defeated parties to Tahiti including the twice deposed queen and her adopted son as "prisoners of war".