Born on the upper Mokau River during the Musket Wars. His father, Potatau Te Wherewhero was the leader of the Waikato people. In 1858 Potata was installed as the first Maori kIng, his pupose being to promote unity among the Maori people in the face of Pakeha encroachment.
Poatau died in 1860 and was succeeded by Tawhiao who reigned for thirty four years during one of the most difficult and discouraging periods of Maori history. In New Zealand during this period there were two governments. English Law and Govenance prevailed within the settlenments and Maori Law or Custom over the rest of the country. However the Pakeha population was increasing fast while the Maori population was either static or declining. This was also the period when the British felt they had a manifest destiny to rule the world. The presence of an independent native state was seen by many as intolerable partuclarly as it occupied most of the territory of the islands.
In 1863 on very slim pretexts and in defiance of the Treaty of Waitangi the Pakeha Government backed by some fourteen thousand Imperial Troops invaded the Waikato, King Tawhio's territory. The Waikato people maded a strong defence but ineviatbly were forced to retreat. The conquered land was confiscated, altogether about a million acres, four hundred thousand hectares.
Tawhiao and his people moved southwards, into the territory of the Ngati Maniopoto, the area of New Zealand that is still known as the King Country. He was a pacifist, or perhaps he was simply a realist who recognized the futility of trying to fight the Pakeha government. Over the next twenty years he travelled among his people reminding them that war always had its price and the price was always higher than expected. But he also predicted that the Maori people would find justice and restitution for th wrongs they had suffered.
In 1878 the New Zealand Government with George Grey as Prime Minister approached Tawhio with the proposal that some of their Waikato land would be restored to them if they would accept the integration of the King Country with the rest of New Zealand. On the advice of his council Tawhio rejected the offer. However it was accepted three years later in a modified form.
Denied justice in New Zealand King Tawhio travelled to London to see Queen Victoria to try and persuade her to honour the Treaty between their peoples. Not surprisingly he didn't get beyond Lord Derby, Secretary of State for the Colonies who said it was a New Zealand problem. Returning to New Zealand the Premier, Robert Stout, insisted that all events happening prior to 1863 were the responsibility of the Imperial Government.
Returning home disillusioned Tawhiao tried various initiatives to promote the independence and welfare of his people but he had been effectively marginalized. His problems were not solely due to the attitude of the New Zealand Government. The King Movement had never represented all the Maori people and as it lost its mana or standing they became even more disunited. During the remainder of his life Tawhio was respected and even entertained as royalty by many of the Maori people. But he was allowed almost no influence over political events. he had been truly marginalized.
Tawhiao is buried at Taupiri.