Te Kooti Arikirangi Te Turuki was born in 1832 into the Ngati Maru sub-tribe of the Māori people in Poverty Bay on the south shore of East Cape. In his early youth he was very wild, causing a great deal of trouble within the tribe and the area. His father rejected him and tried to bury him alive in a kumara pit although some sources say he was buried by his father in a well while clearing sand. He was then adopted by Te Turuki. He argued with local missionaries and together with a group of young Maori terrorized the district. As a result of his lawlessness against both Maori and Pakeha he was driven from the land by a chief of the Te Aitanga a Mahaki in a taua in 1853. He was considered a philanderer and during his life had at least 10 wives. He then became involved in trading, in competit