The wharenui, named Te Tiriti o Waitangi, was opened in 1922, replacing the original 1881 building; the wharekai is Te Ngakau Aroha. Te Tii Waitangi marae was originally a nikau building and the first parliament of the tribes of Ngapuhi, well before the opening of the 1881 building.

The adjacent land is where He Wakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga (Declaration of the Independence of New Zealand) was signed on 28 October 1835. Five years later, 300 chiefs sat on the same spot to debate Te Tiriti o Waitangi (The Treaty of Waitangi), and signed it on 6 February 1840 across the present-day bridge at the home of the British Resident James Busby, now known as the Waitangi National Trust.