Te Weratapou Tito was born in Tangiteroria and was educated at Dargaville High School. He served a five-year apprenticeship as a cabinetmaker in Whangarei and then worked for various cabinet making factories in Auckland. He married and had five sons and a daughter. Tito is now semi-retired and his main interest is the retention of Māori land and Māori history. He has written several articles but his writing is mainly confined to submissions concerning the environment and submissions to the Waitangi Tribunal on land issues pertaining to his rohe. For over thirty-five years Tito has been working on research for his book on the Confederation of the United Tribes of New Zealand.
Tito is the assistant chair of the Kotahitanga o Nga Puhi Whanui in alliance with Te Tinana of Ngātiwhatua nui tonu. He is chair of the Northern Branch of the Confederation of the United Tribes of New Zealand, and is a researcher of Māori history and land tenure. He is Kaumatua of Tirarau Marae Te Whare Whananga o Operepe Tuarua.
Biographical sources
- Phone conversations and correspondence with Tito on 30 July 1998 and 13 Nov. 2004.
Papers/Presentations
- "The Crown." Te Iwi o Aotearoa 28 (1989): 3.
- Tito questions the 1990 Treaty commemorations and likens the Crown to a wolf in sheep’s clothing.