Te Hiko-o-te-Rangi signed the Cook Strait (Henry Williams) sheet of the Treaty of Waitangi on 31 May 1840 at Whanganui. He may have been from Te Āti Haunui-a-Pāpārangi.
Te Hiko-o-te-Rangi was the older brother of Ngā-pare-taua, who married into Ngāti Kahungunu, and Hikato. When Ngā-pare-taua was killed by the hapū (subtribe) of Te Kahu-o-te-rangi, Te Hiko and Tamamutu led a taua (war party) to Heretaunga to avenge her. Te Hiko and Tamamutu captured the Wharekiri pā (fortified village) at Waikare.