Hetekia Te Ua was trained in Māori lore and tradition at the wharewananga at Ruatoki where he was instructed by three tohunga. He attended Nelson College and the Nelson Conservatorium of Music. He often judged Māori Cultural Competitions and was an expert in tribal lore and Māori culture. He was awarded the O.B.E.
Biographical sources
- “Action Songs and Poi Tunes Competition.” Te Ao Hou 56 (1966): 56-57.
- L.F. “Kua Wahangu te Pukōrero.” Te Ao Hou 57 (1966): 5
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Non-fiction
- "Spiritualism and Māori beliefs. The Lore of the Whare Wananga. Pre-Pakeha Life in Poverty Bay." Echoes of the Pa: Proceedings of the Tairawhiti Māori Association for the Year 1932. Gisborne, N.Z.: Tairawhiti Māori Association, Gisborne Publishing, 1933. 38-54.
- In this address given to the April meeting of the Tairawhiti Māori Association in 1932, Te Ua discusses in detail the spiritual training of Tupai and Ruawharo who studied under the famous Hawaiki priest Timuwhakairia. Te Ua notes the famous tohunga of Waerenga-a-Hika, and describes the various levels of tohunga, their training and powers and the different whare wananga. Te Ua gives an account of spiritualism in Māori history and the interaction between Bishop Selwyn and Papahurihia.
- L.F. "Kua Wahangu te Pukōrero." Te Ao Hou 57 (1966): 5+.
- "Te Kani Te Ua." Te Kaunihera Māori: New Zealand Māori Council Journal 1.2 (Oct 1966): 37+.
- Taylor, C. H. R. A Bibliography of Publications on the New Zealand Māori and the Moriori of the Chatham Islands. Oxford: Clarendon; Oxford UP, 1972. 61.
- Te Ua, Henare. "Te Ua, Heketia Te Kani-a-Takirau Kerekere Tuhoe 1892-1966." Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, updated 22 June 2007. URL: http://www.dnzb.govt.nz/