Late in the 17th century the began migrating to the northern part of the South Island under the leadership of the Ngāti Kurī chief Pūraho, with his sons Makō-ha-kirikiri and Marukaitātea, establishing the Kaihinu in the Tory Channel / Kura Te Au. After an incident in which a Ngāi Tahu had desecrated the bones of one of Ngāi Tara's ancestors, Pūraho was murdered in revenge early one morning when he went to relieve himself. This broke out into a series of battles between the two .