Miria Simpson identifies this signatory of the Treaty of Waitangi at Mangungu, Hokianga on 12 February 1840 as ‘Tipa me Toro’ or Tīpā and Toro: ‘The two elements of the mark must have been made by two separate people. Were they twins?’ [1] Claudia Orange, on the other hand, suggests that the name represents a single person, Tīpane Te Toro.
A Tīpene (Steven) Toro who lived in Hokianga died in the late 1860s and was buried at Mangungu.
[1] Miria Simpson, Nga tohu o te Tiriti: making a mark, National Library of New Zealand, Wellington, 1990, p. 27