	He spent his childhood at Te Kautuku near Rangitukia near the mouth of the Waiapu River. By 1839, a school was opened at Rangitukia, which Tueri is believed to have attended. He later attended the Waerenga-ā-hika school at the mission of the Church Missionary Society (CMS), which had been established by the Rev. William Williams in the Gisborne area.