Te Mahuki was a member of the warlike Ngati Maniapoto tribe who bitterly resented Pakeha settlement in New Zealand. He was fiercely opposed to all aspects of Paheka culture being adopted by Maori. He had taken part in the first Taranaki war in 1860 against the instructions of the Maori king. He led a kidnapping of a surveyor Charles Hursthouse,for whom he had a bitter hatred.