[4] The following exclamation is attributed to Whakatōhea ancestor Tāpuikākahu: Ah the food at Wai-aua!’Twas a sleeping house for you, for all men,Where nets are hauled upon the beach.
The group takes its name from the event in which their ancestor, Hineiahua, was pursued and killed by Ngāpuhi at the Waiaua River mouth.
[6] Members of the hapū, such as the iwi elder Tiwai Amoamo, farmed the area during the 20th century.
[9] In 2011, the New Zealand Government signed a formal pardon at Waiaua Marae for a local man, Mokomoko, who was wrongly hanged for murder in 1886, leading to the confiscation of Whakatōhea land.
[6] In July 2020, Government minister Andrew Little visited the marae for Treaty of Waitangi negotiations with Whakatōhea.