The Mataatua canoe, bearing the female ancestor Muriwai from Hawaiki, reached Whakatāne  nine generations after the Nukutere canoe. Muriwai had a son Rēpanga who travelled to  Ōpōtiki, where he married Ngāpoupereta. Rēpanga's descendant, Ruatakena, became the  ancestor of the Ngāti Ruatakena tribe (now known as Ngāti Rua).  

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The daughter of Muriwai Hine-i-kauia followed her brother and married Tūtāmure. The  descendants of this union became Te Whakatōhea, who merged with Te Panenehu. Kahuki Tūtāmure's counterpart in the west was Kahuki, of the Whakatāne sub-tribe. Kahuki  lived at Waiōtahe. He conquered the other sections of this hapū to avenge the killing of his  father, Rongopopoia. 

He then returned to Waiōtahe, where he built a pā close to the river. The remaining members  of Whakatāne and Ngāti Raumoa, including the Te Ūpokorehe hapū, occupied lands at  Waiōtahe and Ōhiwa under the control of Kahuki. Te Ūpokorehe, on the western border, were  subjected to attacks from Tūhoe and Ngāti Awa.  

In times of danger, Te Ūpokorehe sought refuge at Ōpōtiki. The final battle between Te  Whakatōhea, and Ngāti Awa and their Tūhoe ally, took place at Ōhope. Te Whakatōhea chief Te  Rupe led his people to victory with the haka, 'Te kōtiritiri te kōtaratara!' 

Te Whakatōhea fought many battles against their eastern neighbour Ngāi Tai at Tōrere to keep  them out of Waiaua. The defining struggle was at Awahou under the leadership of Punāhamoa,  before the arrival of the missionaries. The Ngāi Tai chief Tūterangikūrei was killed, and his head  was preserved as a trophy of war. Ngāi Tai redeemed their chief's head in exchange for the  

greenstone adze named Waiwharangi, which they gave to the Te Whakatōhea victors.  Waiwharangi is now held in the Whakatāne Museum.

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The Mataatua canoe landed at Pārengarenga in the north, then to Whangaparoa just outside the boundaries of the present-day Auckland township. Mataatua then headed towards the east coast and landed at Whangaparaoa under the summit of Tihirau mountain.

Tihirau was named by an ancestor, Paikea. He likened the mountain at Cape Runaway to the ancestral mountain Tihirau in Hawaiki.  Because Paikea had travelled a great distance from his homeland in Hawaiki, he named this mountain at Cape Runaway, "Tihirau-mai-Tawhiti (Tihirau from afar)."

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From the east coast, Mataatua sailed to Tauranga.  At Tauranga the ancestor Whārei and his pet dogs disembarked the canoe Mataatua and settled at Bowentown. Whārei observed that the rocks at Bowentown had similar features to his pet dogs, hence the proverb: "Mai i Ngā Kuri a Whārei" or "the dogs of Whārei".

The Mataatua canoe then sailed to Pukehina passing Maketu. The waka then journeyed to Otamarākau then to Te Kaokaoroa and made landfall at Pikowai. The canoe continued its journey and landed at the river mouth of Tarawera.  This area in Matata is referenced as Te Awa o Te Atua. From here the Mataatua canoe sailed onwards to Whakatāne passing the Rangitaiki river and the Orini river.  Mataatua made landfall at the river mouth of Ohinemataroa, the present Whakatāne river.

It was Muriwai who uttered the proverbial saying; "Mai i Ngā Kuri-a-Whārei ki Tihirau." She quoted this proverb because her twin children drowned in the Pacific Ocean during the voyage of Mataatua from Hawaikinui to Aotearoa. For many generations, Muriwai placed a prohibition along the entire coastline from Bowentown in the Tauranga region to Cape Runaway. For such a rāhui to be established and remembered to this day is a statement about the priestly powers and mana of Muriwai.

From Mataatua waka come the descendents of the Bay of Plenty iwi of Ngāi Te Rangi, Ngāti Pūkenga, Ngāti Manawa, Ngāti Whare, Ngāti Awa, Whakatōhea, Ngāi tuhoe, Te Whānau ā Apanui and Te Whānau o te Ēhutu.