When Maria Tamatoa was born about 1871, in Aitutaki, Cook Islands, her father, Tamatoa Akatikitiki Ariki, was 37 and her mother, Peirangi Tamatoa Uma-Te Tiki, was 82. She had at least 1 son and 3 daughters with Samuela Makirau. She died in 1911, in her hometown, at the age of 40.