First released in 1962, Hey Boy! by Jane and Bernie Hill was a New Zealand bestseller reprinted several times over the next two years. A photographic book with extended captions, Hey Boy! portrayed urban Māori life of the time, following the activities of a group of children from Orakei. The “Boy” of the title was Charlie Tumahai.
“Boy is what they call me in our street. But my real name is Charlie, like my Dad's. My Dad's people come from Tahiti, and my mother's people are Northern Māori, who were famous warriors. So as Dad says, that makes us half hula and half haka.”