[1] His father was the leader of the tribe Ngāti Hauā, which settled the area along the Waikato River near Horotiu as far east as the Kaimai Ranges.

He was still from time to time engaged in outbreaks of intertribal warfare, particularly against Te Arawa tribes; during one raid in the Rotorua region, he intervened to ensure the safety of two missionaries during the destruction of the CMS station at Ohinemutu by the Te Arawa tribe Ngāti Whakaue, with whom Ngāti Hauā was fighting.

The conflict at this time led to Brown abandoning the CMS station at Matamata and shifting to Tuaranga but he continued to influence Tarapipipi with his Christian teachings.

In October 1838, wielding a bible and referring to Christian ideals, he made an impassioned plea at a hui of Tauranga and Ngāti Hauā Māori against war with Te Arawa.

[1] Soon after taking over as chief of Ngāti Hauā, Tarapipipi had founded a new pā near Matamata, naming it Te Tapiri with rules based on the Ten Commandments.

He was able to persuade several iwi to join the movement, and Potatau Te Wherowhero of Ngāti Mahuta to take on the role of first King.

When war did break out, after the killing of 7 British soldiers in a time of peace in Taranaki and the attempted murder of Gorst, a government agent at Te Awamutu, Tamihana remained in favour of negotiation, but others within the King Movement, such as Rewi Maniapoto preferred to fight.

In 1865 the Pai Mārire movement (commonly known as Hauhau) was active on the Eastern Bay of Plenty and at Ōpōtiki on 2 March shot, hanged and decapitated the German-born Rev.