Rēweti Tamahiki (also known as Wiremu Rēweti I) signed the Manukau-Kāwhia Treaty of Waitangi sheet on 20 March 1840, as did his uncle Āpihai Te Kawau. He was a rangatira (chief) of the Ngā Oho Te Taoū hapū (subtribes) of Ngāti Whātua at Kaipara.
Rēweti was married to Kereihi, who outlived him, and had 13 children. His brother, Pāora (Paul) Tūhaere, became the leader of Ngāti Whātua when Te Kawau died in 1868.
Rēweti signed many land sales in the Tāmaki (Auckland) region, including for the Pukeatua block in Manukau in 1848, Te Kauri, Pītoitoi Creek in Kaipara district in 1853, the Ōrākei block in Waitematā in 1854, and the Waikiekie (no. 2) block in Kaipara in 1856. In 1854 his wife Kereihi sold Parekakau in Wainui for £100. He was at the ceremony of cutting the first sod for the Kaipara railway on 31 August 1871.
Soon afterwards, in October 1871, Rēweti died at Ōrākei. More than 400 people attended his tangi (funeral) at Kopironui, north of Auckland. The Daily Southern Cross obituary stated that ‘in all respects he was a very good man – sober, honest, and well-disposed towards Europeans.’ [1]