EMILY Schuster
Te whakaoranga o te raranga

I whānau a Emily Schuster i te tau 1927.  Nā tōna tohungatanga i te ao o te raranga i eke ai ia ki nga taumata tiketike o tērā wāhanga o te ahurea Māori.  Nā ōna kaumātua me ōna uri o Te Whakarewarewa ia i mātau ai ki ngā mahi raranga i a ia e tamariki tonu ana. Ko te kaiārahi rongonui, ko Rangitiāria tōna whaea kēkē.  I whakapau kaha a Emily ki te whakaako i ngā mahi raranga i a ia e ora ana. 

He mea whakaako a Emily i a ia e nohinohi tonu ana e māori noa ai tērā momo mahi ki a ia.  Ko te tapahitanga me te whakaritenga o te harakeke te mahi tuatahi i ako ai ia, kātahi ia ka ako i ngā momo mahi rerekē i a ia e pakeke haere ana.  Nā tōna whānau hoki ia i mārama ai ki te whakahirahiratanga o te oranga tonutanga o te mahi raranga kia tika.

I mārama a Emily ki te ngaronga haeretanga o te mahi raranga.  Nā reira i riro ai i a ia te tūranga o te Tohunga Raranga Matua o te wānanga toi e kīia nei ko te New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute i te tau 1967 i whakapau kaha ai ia ki te tuku i te mātauranga ki ngā ākonga o taua kura rā.  I haere ia ki ngā tōpito o te ao ki te tuku i te mātauranga, ki te whakaako hoki i ngā iwi maha e ora tonu ai te taonga whakahirahira rā. Nāna hoki ētehi tira raranga i tū ai, arā, a Aotearoa Moana-nui-a-Kiwa Weavers me Te Rōpū Raranga Whatu o Aotearoa.

I whai wāhi a Emily ki ētehi rōpū hapori me ētehi komiti, arā, ki te Women’s Health League.  Ahakoa hoki āna mahi me āna kaupapa huhua, nāna hoki āna tamariki tokoono i whakahaere. 

I te tau 1983, he mea whakawhiwhi ia ki Te Tohu Hapori (QSM), ā, i te tau 1994 ka whakawhiwhia ia ki Te Tohu Mema o te Ōta o te Emepaea o Ingarangi (OBE) hei tohu whakanui i āna mahi katoa i tutuki ai i a ia i roto i te hapori whānui.

I mate a Emily i te tau 1997.  I te tau 2017, e rua tekau tau i muri mai i tana matenga, ka whakaaturia āna taonga maha i mahi ai ia i ngā tau i tētehi whakakitenga i Te Puia, korowai mai, kete mai, tāniko mai, aha mai, aha kē atu mai hei titiro mā te makiu.