I whānau a Hirini Te Rito Whaanga ki Te Māhia. E ai ki te kōrero a te tokomaha, ko tōna tau whānau ko 1828. Ko ia te tama mātāmua a Īhaka Whaanga, he tino rangatira nō Ngāti Rākaipaaka, me Ngāti Kahungunu. Ko tōna whaea ko Te Haka Rākātō. He tauira a Hirini nō te whare wānanga o Waikawa (Portland Island), ā, nō muri iho ka haere hei kaimahi tohorā. E ai ki ōna uri, e toru ōna moenga wāhine. Ko te wahine tuatahi ko Katirina Apatū; e ai ki te kōrero, nō te tau 1850 ka mate. Kotahi tā rāua tamāhine, ko Te Rina. Ko Rīpeka Pōmare tana wahine tuarua, he māreikura nō Te Māhia. Tokorua ā rāua tamariki, ko Raiha rāua ko Ereti. Whāia ka mate a Rīpeka i te tau 1863, ka moe a Hirini i a Mere Mete, he tamāhine nā tētahi kaiwhai tohorā o Te Māhia, nā Hachem Schmidt (ko John Smith tētahi o ōna īngoa). Tokowhā ngā tamariki o tēnei moenga, ko ngā mea i ora ko Mihi Mere rāua ko Katarina; ko ngā mea i mate tamariki, ko Īhaka rāua ko Heneriata.
Nā Hirini i ahu ngā whenua o Ngāti Rākaipaaka i Te Māhia, ā, pai ana āna mahi. Ko tōna matua ko Īhaka te kaiawhi i ngā Pākehā o te rohe, ā, ko ia hoki te kaihautū o ngā kūpapa i ngā pakanga o te tekau tau atu i 1860. Ka whai a Hirini i tana matua ki ētahi o ngā pakanga. He whānau piripono tēnei ki te Hāhi Mihingare, ā, kore rawa e rata atu ki te hāhi Pai Mārire me āna pononga Hauhau. Ēngari ka mutu ngā pakanga, ka puta ngā kōrero tāwai a ngā Māori o tērā takiwā mō te Hāhi Mihingare. Ki a rātou hoki nō te kāwanatanga taua Hāhi. I Ākuhata me Hepetema o te tau 1884, ka tae atu ngā mihingare Amerikana tokotoru o te Hāhi Mōmona, arā, o te Hāhi o Ihu Karaiti mō te Hunga Tapu o ngā Rā o Muri Nei (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), ki Nūhaka ki te kauwhau i tā rātou rongopai, ā, e haere pērā atu ana ki Te Tai Rāwhiti. E 210 ngā pakeke o Te Māhia i huri ki tēnei Hāhi, ko te nuinga nō te Hāhi Mihingare. Ko Hirini te tangata whai mana o ngā Māori i uru atu ki taua Hāhi. Ka iriiria ia he Mōmona i te 30 o Noema 1884 e John C. Stewart. Ka riro i a Hirini ngā ngākau o aua mihingare Mōmona – he taitamariki katoa. Ko ia hoki ki te whakawhiwhi ki te taonga, ki te manaaki. Aronuingia ana ia ki te whaikōrero i ā rātou hui Mōmona.
Nā tana whakaaro ko ia te kaiārahi mō te oranga wairua o tōna iwi, ka ngana ki te haere me te hunga heke huri noa i te ao, ki 'Hīona' (Zion), ki te whakaū i ngā tikanga ā-wairua a ngā Mōmona i ō rātou temepara i Utā (Utah). Ko te tau 1894 tērā. E waru tau i mua atu, i te tau 1886 ka riro tana whanaunga a Pirika Whaanga hei tamaiti whāngai mā ngā Mōmona, ka haria ki Salt Lake City. Ahakoa tōna kūare ki te reo Pākehā, ka pau te kaha o Hirini ki te mahi moni hei haere. I te 14 o Hānuere o te tau 1894 ka whakawahia ia e ngā mihingare Mōmona hei pirihi o te tikanga a Ārona. Nō Hune o taua tau ka whakawhiti ia ki Amerika i runga i te tima Monowai. Ko ōna hoa haere, ko tana wahine ko Mere Whaanga, ko tā rāua mokopuna ko Hirini (Sid) Christy (he tama tēnei nā Mihi Mere), ko te irāmutu a Mere ko Wātene Smith, ko tā rāua tamāhine whāngai ko Ena Pōmare, ko tana auwahine ko Apikara me āna tamariki ko Īhāia rāua ko Īhaka. Tokotoru ngā mihingare Mōmona i hoki i tō rātou taha, arā, ko William Douglass, ko Lars Christian Rasmussen me William Wesley Gibson. I te wā e ngaro atu ana ka mahue iho te whare o Hirini ki Nūhaka hei kāinga mō ngā mihingare Mōmona.
Kāore i pai ki te Perehitinitanga Tuatahitanga o te Hāhi Mōmona, arā, ki te perehitini tonu me āna kaunihera ka rua, te haere atu o ngā ākonga Māori ki Salt Lake City. I mahara hoki te hunga nei, tokorua kē ngā wāhine a Hirini i haria mai e ia. He wā tēnei e uaua ana te tūnga o te Hāhi ki roto i Amerika mō ana tikanga moe wāhine huhua. Ahakoa tēnei raruraru, hoatu ana mā John C. Stewart, arā, te mihingare o mua atu, a Hirini mā e manaaki. E noho ana a Stewart i te tāone o Kanab ki te tonga o te rohe o Utā. Whakatika atu a Stewart ka whakakīkītia a Hirini kia whakapaua āna moni ki ngā kaupapa e puta ai he hua ki a Stewart; hua kore ana a Hirini, mate kau ana ia i te kore moni. Whakatika atu te Rōpū Māori (Māori Association) o Hīona, he rōpū mihingare Amerikana kua hoki atu i Niu Tīreni, ka haria a Hirini ki Salt Lake City, ka hoatu he kāinga mō tōna whānau.
Ka pau te kotahi me te rua o ngā tau, kei te ngaro tonu a Hirini. Nā te kore i pai o te Hāhi kia haere ngā Māori ki Amerika i āwangawanga ai te hunga kāinga. Ka taka ki te tau 1898 ka tonoa a Hirini e te Perehitinitanga Tuatahitanga kia hoki mai ki Niu Tīreni ki te kauwhau i te rongopai. E 69, e 70 rānei ōna tau i taua wā. Ko tana hokinga mai tērā, kōkeko ana ia ki āna mahi a te Hāhi. Ko tōna tino hiahia he whakaemi i ngā whakapapa hei āwhina i āna mahi i roto i ngā temepara o te Hāhi Mōmona. He nui ngā iwi i haeretia e ia ki te kauwhau i te rongopai i te taha o Ezra T. Stevenson, he Amerikana i haere mai hei aporei mō te mīhana Mōmona i Aotearoa. I Te Māhia e hua kaha ana ngā mahi a Hirini.
Whāia ka karangatia anō kia hoki ki Utā i Āperira o te tau 1899. Ko tōna nohoanga atu tērā, kore rawa i hoki mai. Nō te 17 o Oketopa i te tau 1905 ka mate a Hirini. E rua ngā hokinga mai o Mere ki te wā kāinga i muri i te matenga o tana hoa ēngari kāore e tau te noho, ka hoki anō ki Utā. Nō te Aranga o te tau 1941, ka huraina te whakaahua o Hirini i Nūhaka i te huihuinga a te Hāhi Mōmona. Ka noho a Hirini Te Rito Whaanga hei tangata tino nui ki ngā Māori o tēnei Hāhi.