Reihana Parata
{{short description|New Zealand Māori weaver}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}
{{use New Zealand English|date=December 2020}}
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| name = Reihana Parata
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| birth_place = New Zealand
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| known_for = Weaving
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Reihana Parata {{post-nominals|country=NZL|QSM|size=85%}} (born 1937; also known as Aunty Doe) is a New Zealand Māori tohunga raranga (master weaver) from the Ngāi Tahu iwi.{{Cite web |last=Revington |first=Kaituhi Mark |date=5 April 2015 |title=The art of weaving |url=https://ngaitahu.iwi.nz/our_stories/the-art-of-weaving/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240123224429/https://ngaitahu.iwi.nz/opportunities-and-resources/publications/te-karaka/the-art-of-weaving/ |archive-date=23 January 2024 |access-date=28 December 2020 |website=Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu |language=en-NZ}}{{Cite web |title=Parata, Reihana |url=https://findnzartists.org.nz/artist/11591/reihana-parata |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240123224744/https://findnzartists.org.nz/en/artist/11591/reihana-parata |archive-date=23 January 2024 |access-date=28 December 2020 |website=Find New Zealand Artists}} For 11 years Parata was matron at the Te Waipounamu Māori Girls' College in Christchurch.
Biography
Parata grew up in Lyttelton, near Christchurch, New Zealand, and attended Lyttelton West Primary School where she first started weaving.
In 1978, she was appointed matron at Te Waipounamu Māori Girls' College Christchurch, a position she held for 11 years.{{Cite web |last=Tumataroa |first=Phil |date=5 October 2017 |title=Te Ao o te Māori |url=https://ngaitahu.iwi.nz/our_stories/te-ao-o-te-maori-tk75/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231002174449/https://ngaitahu.iwi.nz/our_stories/te-ao-o-te-maori-tk75/ |archive-date=2 October 2023 |access-date=28 December 2020 |website=Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu |language=en-NZ}} The focus of the college was on providing an education for Māori girls. While there, weaver Emily Schuster visited the college to teach the students weaving skills and Parata learnt alongside them.
Parata is a member of the Te Roopu Raranga Whatu o Aotearoa (National Collective of Māori Weavers in New Zealand). In 2008 Parata gained formal acknowledgement of her master weaver status in Aotearoa by being appointed to Te Kāhui Whiritoi by the management committee of Te Roopu Raranga Whatu and the New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute at Te Puia.{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2020 |title=Kahui Whiritoi |url=https://www.maoriart.org.nz/kahui-whiritoi.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201226194812/https://www.maoriart.org.nz/kahui-whiritoi.html |archive-date=26 December 2020 |access-date=30 December 2020 |website=Toi Māori Aotearoa |language=en}}
File:Bridge of Remembrance, Christchurch, New Zealand 08.jpg
In 2016, Parata and Morehu Flutey-Henare worked together to design woven mats of welcome which were installed using coloured paving stones in the rebuild of the Bridge of Remembrance area in central Christchurch.{{Cite web |title=About Us - Partners |url=https://www.otakaroltd.co.nz/about-us/partners/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230501041110/https://www.otakaroltd.co.nz/about-us/partners/ |archive-date=1 May 2023 |access-date=28 December 2020 |website=Ōtākaro Limited}}{{Cite web|title=Ngā Whāriki Manaaki|url=https://www.teputahitanga.org/tpnews/2018/12/8|access-date=2020-12-28|website=Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu|language=en-NZ}}{{Cite web |last=Brankin |first=Kaituhi Anna |date=3 April 2016 |title=Bringing soul to the rebuild |url=https://matapopore.co.nz/bringing-soul-to-the-rebuild/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230202003718/https://matapopore.co.nz/bringing-soul-to-the-rebuild/ |archive-date=2 February 2023 |access-date=28 December 2020 |website=Matapopore Charitable Trust |language=en-US}}
= Recognition =
In the 1990 Birthday Honours list, Parata was awarded the Queen's Service Medal for public services, in recognition of her services to weaving.{{cite news |last= |first= |date=29 June 1990 |title=Queen's Birthday honours 1990 - The Queen's Service Medal for Public Services |url=http://www.nzlii.org/nz/other/nz_gazette/1990/108.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230329114419/http://www.nzlii.org/nz/other/nz_gazette/1990/108.pdf |archive-date=29 March 2023 |access-date= |work=New Zealand Gazette |pages=2247 |issue=108}}
Works
Collaborations:
- Kahu Poa (collection of Korowai Tahi){{Cite book |last1=Evans |first1=Miriama |title=The Art of Maori Weaving: The Eternal Thread |last2=Ngarimu |first2=Ranui |publisher=Huia Publishers |others=Photography by Norman Heke. |year=2005 |isbn=1-869691-61X |location=Wellington, New Zealand |pages=46.48 |language=en |oclc=727985796 |author-link=Miriama Evans |author-link2=Rānui Ngārimu}}
- Nga Here o Te Ao (collection of Te Roopu Raranga Whatu o Aotearoa)
References
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External links
- [https://www.nzonscreen.com/title/ngai-ringa-toi-o-tahu-2017 Film of Parata weaving]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Parata, Reihana}}
Category:Recipients of the Queen's Service Medal
Category:People from Lyttelton, New Zealand