Dr Rangituatahi (Rangi) Te Kanawa was born an-Acquarian- (same year the prohibition for alcohol was lifted for the King Country) ninth in the whanau and managed to hold ‘potiki’ – (baby in family) for four years before sister Kahutoi came along. Named Rangituatahi after Mum, who was named after the wife of Louis Hetet.

Rangi went to Oparure school that had a roll call of 60, where there were three other Rangi - Baker, Atutahi and Katu.  Attended Te Kuiti High School and managed to get School Certificate in English and Clothing and Textiles, the latter coming in handy. 

Met Michael John McDonald from Otorohanga in the 1970s, skipped getting married and headed straight into parenthood giving birth to Clowdy Ria in November 1976. Clowdy is Rangi’s second child to Michael, the first was named Hinearangi and was stillborn.  Rangi raised Clowdy solo with the strong support of Mum and Dad and whanau, whilst Rangi went about seeking to build a foundation for her and Clowdy. Rangi managed to buy her first home in Te Kuiti for a whopping $20K.

Rangi had a go at cooking in the sheds for brother Sonny who was a Shearing contractor-common career in the shearing capital of the world, but that was only after he dismissed me as a rousey/wool handler. Clearly, Rangi’s career path wasn’t either a cook or rousey, but rather, as conservator, when given the opportunity to travel to Canberra Australia in 1986 to ado n introductory course in conservation of cultural materials. This course was initiated by the Te Māori exhibition that toured the United States in 1984 and received rave reviews. It also brought awareness to Museums and Art Galleries to employ Māori as caretakers of their material culture.  Not really knowing what a conservator role was and instructed by Nana Hetet “to go find out”, Rangi went and found she loved the practice of conserving artifacts.

To get her ‘ticket’ as a conservator, Clowdy and Rangi went to live in Canberra in 1988 for three years where she gained a Bachelor of Science degree in Conservation of Cultural Materials, at University of Canberra. Rangi returned to Wellington in 1990 as a Conservator Textiles employed by the National Museum of NZ Te Papa. She remained there for 10 years before returning home in 1998.  In 2001, Clowdy married Maurice Ngatai, and my first moko Hinearangi Jessie was born in 2002. Two years later my Grandson Ria Te Aihe came along. Rangi returned to Te Papa in 2008 to fill a maternity leave position however this turned to a permanent position and she remained there till resigning in August.  2020. Rangi says she has had the privilege of conserving many historically significant taonga and has researched aspects of stabilizing materials particularly the dyed black fibre using iron-rich mud-paru for which she gained her Master of Science at Victoria University of Wellington. This work also led Rangi to recently submit and successfully defend her Doctorate, again from Victoria University. Rangi is currently a conservator in private practice and contracted to Te Papa for community work and Ministry Cultural Heritage in preserving archaeological textiles. Rangi says she is indebted to her whakapapa of traditional weaving, sewing, and perseverance.