Rangimārie Hetet

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Dame Rangimārie Hetet

DBE
Born
Rangimārie Hursthouse

(1892-05-24)24 May 1892
Oparure, King Country
, New Zealand
Died14 June 1995(1995-06-14) (aged 103)
OccupationTohunga raranga
Spouse
Tuheka Taonui Hetet
(m. 1911; died 1938)
Children5
Parent(s)Charles Wilson Hursthouse
Mere Te Rongopamamao Aubrey
RelativesDiggeress Te Kanawa (daughter)
Rangi Hetet (grandson)
Veranoa Hetet (great-granddaughter)
Richmond Hursthouse (uncle)

Dame Rangimārie Hetet

Ngati Maniapoto iwi
.

Early life

Hetet was born in

Kāwhia. After breaking her arm aged nine, she returned to live with her mother, and attended Te Kūiti Native School and then Oparure Native School.[1] She was taught the art of weaving korowai (dressed flax cloaks) by her mother and by observing people in her family weaving kete, mats and cloaks.[1][2]

Hetet was married to a carpenter Tuheka Taonui Hetet from 16 February 1911 until his death in 1938. They had two children before he went to fight in World War I, and another three after his return. He was in the Māori Battalion (A Company), and suffered gas poisoning while he was serving.[1][3] Hetet's descendants include Rangi Te Kanawa and Veranoa Hetet.

Career

In 1951 the

waiata for her descendants imploring them to uphold traditional Māori arts.[6]

Together they taught raranga (basketry and mat-making) and mahi whatu (finely processed flax weaving). From that the 1950s onwards Hetet began to regularly produce cloaks and other items.[2][7] Hetet also passed on her detailed knowledge of the different types of flax and other plants that provide the material to be weaved as well as how to produce and fix dyes to the fibres in preparation for weaving.[8]

Hetet's work is known for the precise use of traditional weaving methods and materials [9] In the 1960s it has been said she was "probably the greatest living proponent of korowai (cloak weaving); in her lifetime she was instrumental in the preservation and resurgence of traditional Māori weaving."[10]

In 1982 Te Ohaki Māori Village and Crafts Centre was opened in Waitomo to showcase and pass on the knowledge of Hetet and Diggeress Te Kanawa.[4][10]

The British Museum holds a plaited kete (basket) made by Hetet in 1993, when she was 100 years old. The kete is made from undyed flax woven in a plain check, and a three-strand braid beginning at the bottom. It has handles made of braided flax-fibre.[11] The Otago Museum holds a kete, whatu huruhuru, made by Hetet using flax fibre and pheasant feathers.[12]

Honours and awards

Hetet was appointed a

New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal.[16]

Hetet was made a life member of the Māori Women's Welfare League.

QEII Arts Council Fellowship, and in 1978 a Bank of New Zealand Weaving Award.[1][17] She received the Mediawoman Award in 1982, and in 1986 an honorary doctorate from the University of Waikato.[17] In 1992, Hetet was awarded the Governor-General Art Award, presented to her by Cath Tizard at the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts in Wellington. The Academy had at that time an exhibition containing a "guest artist" section with works loaned by Hetet, Diggeress Te Kanawa and Kahu Te Kanawa.[18]

In 2017, Hetet was selected as one of the Royal Society Te Apārangi's "150 women in 150 words", celebrating the contributions of women to knowledge in New Zealand.[19]

Exhibitions

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Putaranui, Atawhai. "Rangimarie Hetet". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 1 December 2011.
  2. ^
    OCLC 29192742
    .
  3. ^ "Tuheka Taonui Hetet | 28th Maori Battalion". 28th Māori Battalion. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  4. ^ a b c d Putaranui, Atawhai (August 2011). "Hetet, Rangimārie". Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  5. OCLC 727985796
    .
  6. ^ a b Meduna, Veronica (November–December 2020). "The Unbroken Thread". New Zealand Geographic. 166.
  7. ^ .
  8. ^ "Royal Society Te Apārangi - Rangimārie Hetet". royalsociety.org.nz. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  9. OCLC 911072426.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link
    )
  10. ^ a b "A Celebration of Age and Tradition, 1990. Four generations of weavers, Ohaki Village, Waitomo". Sarjeant Gallery Whanganui. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  11. Wikidata Q104706202
    .
  12. ^ "No. 45985". The London Gazette (2nd supplement). 2 June 1973. p. 6509.
  13. ^ "No. 49769". The London Gazette (2nd supplement). 16 June 1984. p. 2.
  14. ^ "No. 52953". The London Gazette (2nd supplement). 13 June 1992. p. 29.
  15. ^ "The New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal 1993 – register of recipients". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 26 July 2018. Retrieved 18 September 2018.
  16. ^ .
  17. ^ "1992 Governor-General Award". Aotearoa Moananui a Kiwa Weavers. 17: 7. January 1993.
  18. ^ "Rangimārie Hetet". Royal Society Te Apārangi. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  19. ^ "Major Exhibition Celebrates New Zealand's Finest Traditional Maaori Weavers". Waikato Museum Te Whare Taonga o Waikato. Retrieved 13 June 2015.

External links