Rawiri Tītīrangi signed the East Coast sheet of the Treaty of Waitangi between 5 and 12 May 1840 at Tūranga (now Gisborne). He was a rangatira (chief) from Ngāti Wahia and Ngāti Matepu of the Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki iwi (tribe). Rather than signing with a mark or part of his moko (tattoo), Tītīrangi wrote his name.
Tītīrangi was named as one of the owners of the 1,100,000-acre Mangatū No. 1 Block in 1881. In 1893, Tītīrangi’s 1882 Native Land Court certificate for his claim in the Puhatikotiko Block was recognised. He had received £10 in 1882.