COROMIND ISSUE 18 JUN24 ONLINEVERSION - Flipbook - Page 16
Weaving
Nature
BERNIE ROSS’ JOURNEY INTO RARANGA
When I 昀椀rst met Bernadette (Bernie) Ross while working
at Creative Coromandel, I was immediately drawn to her
deep passion for the arts, her friendly warmth and her
sharp wit! It wasn’t until I visited her in Whangamatā
in 2021, where she was exhibiting local artists’ work
alongside her own, that I really started to understand
the depths of her talent as a kairaranga – weaving artist.
Three years later, we’re still connected, and long overdue
for a kōrero about her raranga (weaving) journey!
Bernie grew up in a large family in Manurewa, South
Auckland, one of nine children, with Irish, English and
Spanish heritage. Her family owned a farm and from
a young age she was taught to care for and respect the
natural environment. She recalls her father pointing out
the stand of kauri trees at the back of the farm, saying
they needed protection because they were special. “He
understood the land, my Dad, and appreciated what it
was and how to look after it”.
At age 24 she moved to the UK, living in West London
brie昀氀y, before moving to Oxfordshire, where she got
married and started a family. After having kids, she
began a landscaping and gardening business, and this
carried through to her return to Aotearoa New Zealand
in 2002, where she settled in Tauranga Moana. Sadly
an unfortunate back injury in 2010 meant closing the
business, and it was then that she began her raranga
journey. “I remember being at the Pitt Rivers Museum
in England, and they had a huge Native American war
bonnet, the bonnets that chiefs wore – it was a metre
and a half high. I remember admiring the weaving and
the indigenous knowledge behind it, and that stayed
with me, for a long, long time”. She also remembers
her grandmother embroidering priests’ vestments – a
creative inclination that seems to have passed to her.
She’s the only one in her family who has pursued a
creative career.
Her curiosity piqued, Bernie visited the library for books
on raranga and the librarian recommended a visit to the
Te Wānanga o Aotearoa ki Tauranga Moana campus. The
next four years were spent learning under the tutelage
of renowned master kairaranga, Bibbins Tangitu, for a
Bachelor of Māori Art degree. Bibbins had taught raranga
for over 40 years, gaining her skills at Tutereinga Marae
in Te Puna, just outside of Tauranga, and is respected
for her work with piupiu (skirt) and kete (basket). Bernie
recollects the inclusivity that Bibbins cultivated in the
classroom, insisting that regardless of who you were
(Māori or non-Māori), the desire to learn and uphold the
sacred tikanga of raranga is what mattered. “She was a
wonderful weaver but also a wonderful woman, a real
leader in Te Puna.”
Learning raranga was life changing for Bernie. She learned
about Te Ao Māori, how to be kaitiaki (guardian) to taiao,
how to recite pepeha, and the tikanga of harvesting and
preparing harakeke (昀氀ax) for weaving. Māori view the
harakeke plant as a whānau. The rito (central shoot) is the
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