Te Ata-inutai was a MÃÂori rangatira (chieftain) of the NgÃÂti Raukawa iwi in the Tainui tribal confederation based at Whare-puhunga in the Waikato region of New Zealand. He led an attack against NgÃÂti Tà «wharetoa on the south shore of Lake Taupà Â, as a result of disputes arising from the NgÃÂti TamaâÂÂNgÃÂti Tà «wharetoa War and forged a peace treaty with the Tà «wharetoa chieftain Te Rangi-ita, but was ultimately murdered in his old age by members of Tà «wharetoa in vengeance for his earlier attack. He probably lived in the early seventeenth century.
Te Ata-inutai was the son of Upoko-iti, a descendant of Raukawa and, through him, a direct descendant of Hoturoa, captain of the Tainui canoe. Upoko-iti participated in the NgÃÂti RaukawaâÂÂNgÃÂti Kahu-pungapunga War alongside his cousin Whaita and brothers Tama-te-hura, Wairangi, and Pipito, in which NgÃÂti Raukawa conquered the stretch of the Waikato River between Maungatautari and ÃÂtiamuri. When he became an adult, Te Ata-inutai made his own base at Mount Whare-puhunga.
During the NgÃÂti TamaâÂÂNgÃÂti Tà «wharetoa War the NgÃÂti Tà «wharetoa ariki, Waikari had attacked and killed the NgÃÂti Raukawa rangatira Poutà «, who was a cousin of Te Ata-inutai. Te Ata-inutai gathered a war party in order to get revenge for this killing. He led the war party down the Waikato River, along the east coast of Lake Taupà Â. At Rangatira Point, they attacked the fortress of Pà Ânui, where they killed a lady called Hine-te-ao, but her husband Tà «wharetoa a Turiroa eluded them and made it to WhakÃÂngiangi, where he warned NgÃÂti Tà «wharetoa of the invasion. Te Ata-inutai continued along the east coast of Taupà  to Waikari's fortress at Koro-tanuku, on the north bank of the Tauranga Taupà  River where it flows into Lake Taupà  (modern Tauranga Taupà  township). He took the fortress and killed all the people there, including Waikari.
Te Ata-inutai now came to WhakÃÂngiangi (slightly further east, near modern Te Rangiita township), where most of the Tà «wharetoa warriors had gathered under the command of Te Rangi-ita and Tà «mata-ngaua. Te Ata-inutai's forces attacked the fort, but its defences were too strong for them, so they settled into a siege. During the siege, Te Ata-inutai was struck by a spear made of mÃÂnuka wood and wounded. He shouted up to the defenders, asking who had hit him, and one Te Rangi-ita revealed that he had done it, Te Ata-inutai called him down and made peace with him. To seal the peace, Te Rangi-ita married Waitapu, daughter of Te Ata-inutai and his wife Te Kahu-rere-moa.
After this Te Ata-inutai returned to Mount Whaka-puhunga, while Waitapu and Te Rangi-ita settled at Marae-kà Âwhai, north of Lake Taupà Â, near Mà Âkai. The genealogical links (whakapapa) resulting from the marriage between Waitapu and Te Rangi-ita are recounted in a waiata by Peou, which is included in ÃÂpirana Ngata and Pei Te Hurinui Jones' collection of waiata Nga Moteatea. Waikari's head was taken by the NgÃÂti Raukawa and was placed in the waters of KÃÂwÃÂ, near Mount Kakepuku to function as a mauri tuna (a talisman for attracting eels).
For a long time, Te Rangi-ita and Waitapu had only daughters and as a result, Te Rangi-ita stopped visiting Waitapu. Therefore, according to Pei Te Hurinui Jones, she left Marae-kà Âwhai, travelling home to her father, who performed special karakia ('incantations') and told her that if she returned to Marae-kà Âwhai and had sex with Te Rangi-ita, she would bear a son, which is what happened. In Hoeta Te Hata's account, however, the rituals were carried out by a nameless tohunga (priest), Waitapu came home already pregnant, and Te Ata-inutai planned to kill his grandchild if it proved to be male, but Waitapu covered the baby's front and tricked him into believing that she had given birth to another daughter.
According to Pei Te Hurinui Jones, however, Waitapu's first son was born at Marae-kà Âwhai and, when Te Ata-inutai heard about it, he travelled there in order to perform the tohi baptismal ritual for the newborn, who was called Tama-mutu. On his way home, however, Te Ata-inutai was ambushed and killed at Waipapa, below the Pou-a-kani cliff by a war party of NgÃÂti Tà «wharetoa led by a rangatira called Kewha (according to Pei Te Hurinui Jones), in revenge for the earlier deaths of Hine-te-ao and Waikari. Hoeta Te Hata says that the killer's name was Kà «ha and that the murder took place on the Mangakino Stream. According to him, Te Ata-inutai was taking his oldest granddaughter, Pare-kÃÂwa, back to Marae-kà Âwhai.
Te Ata-inutai's head was taken to Maungawharau in the Kaimanawa Range where it was placed on a tree as a bird talisman for kÃÂkÃÂpà Â. As a result, the place was named Te Iringa o te Upoko o Te Ata ('The hook of Te Ata's head').
For a long time, his death went unavenged, but eventually, his youngest grandson Tà «-te-tawhàarranged for Whiti-patatà  of NgÃÂti Raukawa to lead a war party that avenged the murder by attacking the NgÃÂti Tà «wharetoa settlement of Tuhinga-mata.
The earliest published account of Te Ata-inutai's life is included in a 1904 article by Walter Edward Gudgeon, with no indication of the sources on which it is based. A detailed account was given by Hoata Te Hata between 1916 and 1918. This account is followed closely by John Te Herekiekie Grace in his 1959 history of Tà «wharetoa. F. L. Phillips gives an account in his 1989 book on Tainui historical geography, which he heard from Kahu Te Kuru of NgÃÂti Manunui. Pei Te Hurinui Jones gives a similar account, which he heard from Tuturu Hà Âne Tere of NgÃÂti Tà «wharetoa and NgÃÂti Raukawa descent.