He was born in Auckland and was educated at Mangere Central Primary School, Arahanga Intermediate and Mangere College. He continued his studies at Auckland University and the Auckland Institute of Technology; graduated with a B.A. in Māori Studies. He was Ethnologist at the Auckland Museum from 1984-1996 and is currently Chief Executive Officer of Kawerau a Maki Tribal Trust Board.
Biographical sources
- Correspondence from Taua on 2 Apr. 1998.
Non-fiction
- "The Hui - Takapuwahia." AGMANZ Journal 16.4 (1985): 3.
- Taua writes a report of the Art Galleries and Museum Association of New Zealand (AGMANZ) hui held at Takapuwahia Marae in Porirua from 21-23 November 1985 which had as its theme Taonga Māori with particular emphasis on ‘its interpretation, physical and spiritual care and display techniques’.
- "Report: Sweden." AGMANZ Journal 17.4 (1986/87): 24.
- Taua reports on a conference he attended in Sweden which was organised by A’jtte (Swedish Mountain and Saami Museum) with the Swedish Commission for UNESCO and the International Council of Museums. The conference theme was ‘Museums and the Cultural Continuity and Identity of Indigenous People’ and Taua concludes by reproducing the five-point recommendation compiled at the conference which gives guidelines to museums in their relationship with indigenous peoples and cultures.
- Tamaki-makau-rau: The People. Auckland, N.Z.: Auckland Institute & Museum, 1987.
- In this photocopied typed manuscript Taua writes a tribal history of Tamaki-makau-rau, giving explanations of tribal sayings and expressions in connection with the region, and noting the early inhabitants from the Tainui and Arawa canoes and early settlements in the area. Taua provides whakapapa illustrating the main lines of descent from Maki, ancestor of Kawerau-Tamaki tribes, whakapapa of Haumoewharangi, and whakapapa of Hua - ancestor of Te Wai O Hua.
- "A History of the Māori People" The History of Howick and Pakuranga: Whitford, Bucklands and Eastern Beaches and Surrounding Districts. Alan La Roche. Howick, Auckland, N.Z.: Howick & Districts Historical Society, 1991. 27-43.
- Taua’s "A History of the Māori People" is subdivided into twelve sections. He discusses the tribal boundaries of Ngāti Tai, the journey of the Tainui canoe around the North Island and the naming of geographical locations. Taua writes of Te Hekenga O Nga Tuatoru, the early contacts with Europeans, the devastation of ‘Te Pu’ (the musket), Christian missions based at the C.M.S. Maraetai Mission, land sales, and the outbreak of the land wars. He gives an overview of Ngai Tai history from the late 19th century up till the present, writes of two traditional stories of Howick and Pakuranga and concludes with a Ngati Tai whakapapa showing descent from Te Keteanataua and Hoturoa and a map illustrating the pre-European occupation sites and Māori names.
- Nga Tohu a Nga Tupuna. Auckland, N.Z.: Auckland Regional Council; Regional Parks Service, 1994.
- A guide to the carvings of Te Kawaerau a Maki ancestors represented at the Arataki Visitor Centre in Auckland, N.Z. with reference to the carving styles employed, biographical notes about the ancestors, and a history of Te Kawerau a Maki - the tangata whenua of the Waitakere Ranges.