The announcement from the steps of New Zealand’s Parliament Buildings on 5 August 1914 that New Zealand was going to war was received with mixed reactions from Māori. The Native Contingent was formed on 16 September and men from throughout the country signed up. Some iwi, however, especially the Waikato and Taranaki tribes, were less inclined to be involved in the war effort. They were still smarting from their experiences as the enemy in their own country and the confiscation of their lands during the New Zealand Wars from 1845 to 1872. However, members from some of these disaffected tribes did become involved in enlistment efforts at an individual level.

Māori did not only volunteer for the Native Contingent. Some opted to join their local provincial infantry battalions to fight alongside Pākehā. Many tribal groups still had a strong sense and commitment to the Treaty of Waitangi and were keen to show their loyalty to the obligations expressed in the partnership promised under the Treaty. Life at home was tough, especially in the rural areas where many Māori still lived. Unemployment was high and the attraction of shelter, clothing and food, as well as  the sense of adventure, was a real incentive for these young men to sign up.

The first echelon of the Native Contingent departed from Wellington for Egypt on 14 February 1915 under the title Te Hokowhitu a Tū (The 140 warriors of the war god Tūmatauenga), a reference to the traditional number of warriors in a tauā, or war party.