A committee of five at Papawai organised the newspaper while each Maori district had a co-ordinator to collect subscriptions and news. An independent Maori press also established Te Wananga, Te Korimako, and Huia Tangata Kotahi (Jubilee: Te Tiupiri, 11 January 1898: 1).

In the first issue the editor declared the intent of the paper:

'He panuitanga tenei i ta tatou Nupepa ia Te Puke Ki Hikurangi ka tukua atu nei kia haere atu ki nga hau e wha o tatou motu e rua, o Aotearoa me te Waipounamu me o raua motu ririki, hei taringa, hei reo, mo tatou e noho nei tatou i roto i te pouritanga o nga mahi nunui a to tatou Kotahitanga, ara te oha a o tatou tipuna a o tatou matua, te Tiriti O Waitangi me nga mahi a to tatou Paremata e tu mai nei i Poneke, me nga rongo korero o te ao e whakarongo noa nei te taringa, e ui noa nei te ngakau, ki a ia ano, a, kowai hoki hei whakautu i te patai. E hoa ma tenei ahau ka tu ake ki runga hei whakautu i tenei patai.' (21 December, 1897: 1)

(This is a statement about our newspaper Te Puke Ki Hikurangi which is sent out to the four winds of our two islands, Aotearoa and Te Waipounamu [North and South Islands] with their small outlying islands. It will be ears and voice for us who remain in ignorance of the enormous tasks of Te Kotahitanga in dealing with the Treaty of Waitangi, the gift from our forebears, and matters before our Parliament in Wellington. Then there is the news of the world, which our ears listen for and our minds question in vain amongst ourselves, but who is there to answer our queries? Friends, I am here to provide the answers.)--Papers Past.