Eventually Rua moved downstream to Matahi, a community he had founded on the Waimana River in the eastern Bay of Plenty in 1910, where he lived until his death on 20 February 1937. He was survived by five wives, nine sons, and 13 daughters. Belief in his divinity did not long survive him, however, as he failed to fulfill his promise to rise from the dead. Little now remains of Maungapōhatu, and his church (Te Wairua Tapu) boasts few followers. The Urewera Country is peaceful, a contrast to what it was in the days of the Prophet Rua.