During the 1850s he became a supporter of the King Movement, which opposed further expansion of European sovereignty and the sale of land to European settlers, and in the 1860s fought against colonial forces in the First Taranaki War and Waikato War, in which he also acted as a chaplain to the Māori soldiers. By the early 1860s Te Ua was part of a "runanga" (local board of management), which administered local government and also ensured that the boundary of the land that was covered by the "mana" of the Māori King was undisturbed.