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preceded by a tribal or hapu discussion as to what action should take place. Normally muru was an act by taua to balance an act of violence or theft. In the early days of
European settlers muru was practiced against settlers who had transgressed against Māori lore. Often settlers were bewildered by apparent random thefts or acts of violence. Sometimes, especially in the north, chiefs would intercede to give a cultural explanation to settlers and arrange a suitable payment of goods in compensation. In Māori society it was accepted that muru could be carried out against strangers. This had the appearance of arbitrary attacks on innocent parties. This led to a direct conflict with New Zealand law where only the guilty could be punished. In 1847 in Whanganui a Māori chief was accidentally shot in the face on a ship. He accepted that his wound was an accident. His wound was tended to by a doctor and the man recovered but a taua decided to take muru for the accident by attacking a local farmer /artist. He escaped, but the taua killed four members of the family and wounded two more. When five of the taua were caught by Māori the taua were found to be 14 and 19 year olds. All, apart from the 14 year old were found guilty of murder and hanged. The 14 year old was banished.
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221:. 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), against tribes to the south.
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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
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Muru is the negative or revenge side of the Māori cultural practice of utu, carried out by taua, which can be either positive or negative. It was within Māori traditions for a taua to conduct muru against hapu who had no involvement in the events that caused the death of the chief. Often muru was
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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
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306:" 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
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183:” (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
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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
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228:(a war leader of the Ngāpuhi) did not commence the muru until January 1832. The warriors were successful in fights on the
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the number of warriors rose to about 2,000 and the group travelled mainly on foot around the
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Smith, S. Percy – Maori Wars of the
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The most comprehensive written account of a war expedition was written by missionary
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to foresee the success of a second war expedition; then Tītore led a party of
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which only grew well in the north most part of North Island, the
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514:(ENZB), University of Auckland Library. pp. 130–133.
403:(ENZB), University of Auckland Library. pp. 106–126.
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now grew large quantities of more easily grown potatoes.
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429:(ENZB), University of Auckland Library. pp. 78–87.
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Te Wiremu: Henry
Williams – Early Years in the North
55:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
444:. Huia Publishers, New Zealand. pp. 164–168.
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53:adding citations to reliable sources
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474:New Zealand Electronic Text Centre
373:"Traditional Maori Concepts, Muru"
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529:. Pegasus Press. pp. 99–100.
356:"Traditional Maori Concepts, Utu"
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