Tumahai’s father, Francois, came to Auckland from Tahiti with a local band in the 1920s. He fell in love with Pori, a Ngāti Whātua woman from Ōrākei, and never left. George was born and raised on “Boot Hill”, the Māori community in Ōrākei, near Bastion Point. He had five siblings, Charlie, Danny, Freda, Frank, and Tamaki. (Charlie Tumahai of Herbs fame was the son of Charlie Sr and George’s nephew.)