Taua A taua is a war party in the tradition of the Maori , the indigenous people of New Zealand . Contemporary knowledge of taua is gleaned from missionary observations and writings during the Musket Wars of the early 19th century and the later New Zealand wars . The reason to engage gather a taua may be for reasons of seeking revenge ( utu ) or seeking compensation for an offence against an individual , community or society ( muru ) . Composition . A taua was typically composed of males , although there were occasions when women fought as well . The party was led by a chief ( rangatira ) , and would be made up of around 70 warrior s . This number was the general capacity of a “ waka taua ” ( a war canoe ) , however sometimes waka would be designed to carry up to 140 warriors , and such canoes were called " Te Hokwhitu a Tu " . During the height of the musket wars the number of warriors rose to about 2 , 000 and the group travelled mainly on foot around the North Island coast . The most comprehensive written account of a war expedition was written by missionary Henry Williams . This heke was a consequence of the so - called Girls ’ War , which was a fight that occurred on the beach at Kororareka , Bay of Islands in March 1830 between northern and southern hapū within the Ngāpuhi iwi . Hengi , a chief of Whangaroa , was shot and killed while he attempted to stop the fighting . The duty of seeking revenge had passed to Mango and Kakaha , the sons of Hengi ; they took the view that the death of their father should be acknowledged through a muru ( war expedition to honour the death of an important chief ) , again tribes to the south . It was within Māori traditions to conduct a muru against tribes who had no involvement in the events that caused the death of the chief . Strategy . Taua would typically restrict their activity to the fighting season , between late November and early April , when food and fishing was plentiful . During the height of the musket wars Taua were away from their turangawaiwai for up to a year . By 1830 they were no longer dependent on traditional crops such as kumara which only grew well in the north - most , the Iwi now grew large quantities of more easily grown potatoes . The taua would usually attack at dawn in the form of an ambush or a surprise raid . Their intimate knowledge of New Zealand ’ s natural environment enabled them to appear and disappear swiftly and noiselessly and successfully complete their mission . As Maori at the time were strongly committed to the idea of " utu " ( revenge ) , the aim would be to kill all members of the enemy war party and leave no survivors . There were , however , occasions when warring taua would come to a truce . This would be typically settled through the arrangement of an inter - tribal marriage . Customs . The haka was a central feature to the life and culture of each taua . Other customs and rites included abstinence of certain foods and practices , dedication to Tumatauenga , the god of war , and rites that would place a " tapu " around the warrior , and lift the tapu when the warrior returned home . It was customary to eat the vanquished or to take slaves which could be eaten later or used as slave labour . Heads of defeated chiefs were kept as trophies and displayed on palisade s of the home " pa " . " Taua " film . " Taua " ( aka " War Party " ) is a 2007 short film written and directed by Te Arepa Kahi .