Rawiri Rangikatia signed the East Coast sheet of the Treaty of Waitangi on 1 June 1840 at Rangitukia, Waiapu. The Ngāti Porou rangatira (chief) lived in Wairoa, Hawke’s Bay, and was a descendent of Ruawaipū.
On 27 December 1854, at least 500 people gathered for a feast and ceremony to mark the raising of the main post of St John’s Church in Rangitukia. Rawiri deposited a bottle containing coins and a newspaper in the hole before he and many others raised the post.
In 1861 Rawiri and 31 others wrote to Governor Grey to welcome his return to New Zealand and state that they were happy to live by the Queen’s law.