Reihana Parata

Reihana Parata is a New Zealand Māori tohunga raranga from the Ngāi Tahu iwi. 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. 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. 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.
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.

In the 1990 Birthday Honours list, Parata was awarded the Queen's Service Medal for public services, in recognition of her services to weaving.

Collaborations: