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Te Roopu Raranga Whatu o Aotearoa


Te Roopu Raranga Whatu o Aotearoa or Māori Weavers New Zealand is the New Zealand national Māori weavers’ collective, which aims to foster and preserve Māori traditional textiles.

Founded in 'Aotearoa Moananui a Kiwa Weavers' by the Māori and South Pacific Arts Council, the Māori and Pacifika portions of the organisation were split for funding reasons—current Toi Māori Aotearoa funding is specifically targeted at Māori arts.

Te Roopu holds national hui (attendance of which is required by a number of tertiary courses), regional workshops, publishes a newsletter, coordinates with research funding agencies, publishes books.

Emily Schuster of Māori Arts and Crafts Institute in Rotorua was the first chairperson. Diggeress Te Kanawa was a co-founder. Christina Wirihana is the current chairperson.

There is some overlap of personnel and events with Maori Women's Welfare League, but the League has a much broader remit, longer history and more political outlook.


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