Riri Maihi Kawiti's original seat was drafted as one position chosen from the Hōne Heke, Maihi Kawiti, Tāmati Wāka Nene and Pōmare families. Te Ara describes Riri as representing four principal leaders of Ngāpuhi: Te Ruki Kawiti, Hōne Heke, Pōmare II and Tāmati Wāka Nene.
All four have a documented He Wakaputanga connection. Hōne Heke signed on 28 October 1835. Te Ruki Kawiti was signature 19. Pōmare II was signature 23. Tāmati Wāka Nene signed the codicil soon after the original signing and is recorded as signature 35. All four also sit inside the Treaty history: Heke was the first rangatira to sign Te Tiriti at Waitangi; Pōmare signed in February and helped persuade others; Kawiti signed in May after initial opposition; Nene was a crucial pro-Tiriti speaker at Waitangi.
1835 → 1840 → 1932 is a real documentary overlap. It is not, by itself, proof of a legal transfer of Te Wakaminenga authority into the Trust Board.
The 1932 public discussion of the Bledisloe gift also explicitly recalled the 1834 flag selection and the 1835 Declaration at Waitangi. So He Wakaputanga was not absent from the historical frame in which the Trust was created. But Lord Bledisloe's stated design principle for the Board was broader: a national memorial containing Māori, local, South Island and historically connected family representatives.
That leaves a precise research question: was the four-family grouping chosen simply because those rangatira were central northern figures in the Treaty story, or because their 1835 status in Te Wakaminenga also mattered to the drafters? We need correspondence, Board papers, Ngata papers or donor instructions that state the reason. Until then, either explanation is possible; only the overlap itself is proved.
The 2015 amendment adds another layer. Parliament did not discard the four names. It disestablished Riri's combined position and created four separate family seats, with the new appointees treated for the deed's purposes as if they had been appointed by the original declaration of trust. That preserves the representative family architecture into the present statute.
Sources: Riri Maihi Kawiti biography; Hōne Heke — He Wakaputanga; Te Ruki Kawiti; Pōmare II; Tāmati Wāka Nene; 1932 reporting on Waitangi, the flag and Declaration; 2015 Amendment Act.