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.
Qualities: innovation, identity, relationships, scholarship, wellbeing
More to watch:
http://www.maoritelevision.com/news/regional/prominent-weaver-emily-schusters-work-remembered
More to read:
See photographic portraits of Emily Schuster by famous photographer Brian Brake and her work:
https://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/agent/28761
From Rotorua Library:
Te ringa rehe: the legacy of Emily Schuster (Ane Tonga)
Pū manawa: a celebration of whatu, raranga and tāniko (Megan Tamati-Quennell)
More to listen to:
Hear Emily Schuster herself talking about the art of raranga in 1977 as part of a He Rerenga Korero interview by Whai Ngata aired on Radio New Zealand:
This entry is related to these other entries:
Te Arawa fibre arts
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