DOCUMENTARY

'Tu Tangata - Weaving for the People'

$10 NZD

Not available elsewhere to view online. 7 day online access from date of purchase.

Online view of this award-winning Film festival documentary that gives you an intimate insight into the creative life and community of Māori weaver and artist, Erenora Puketapu-Hetet (1941-2006).

"I say again that I'm privileged to be part of this community, and being a weaver is secondary to all of that."
- Erenora Puketapu-Hetet

Running Time 68 minutes | Featuring Erenora Puketapu-Hetet, Kara Puketapu, Te Rira Puketapu, and the people of Waiwhetu Marae | Director Robin Greenburg | With funding assistance from Hutt City Council Creative Communities, The Pacific Development and Conservation Trust; Screen Innovation Production Fund: A partnership between Creative New Zealand & the New Zealand Film Commission | Copyright Nga Peka Trust 2000

"TU TANGATA is a refreshing view of the Māori art of weaving and a celebration of maternal gentleness. The late Erenora Puketapu-Hetet and her whanau (extended family) guide you on a journey of learning and a passion inherited through the need to nurture and retain the arts. 

...moving and humorous, open and candid, all the while teaching us the importance of family and sharing knowledge."

- Lawrence Wharerau, New Zealand International Film Festival

"Through their work, such master weavers as Erenora Puketapu-Hete and Kara Puketapu take into hand the weaving of cultural identity, family, community and spiritual values, along with a healthy dose of respect for natural resources. TU TANGATA is an inspirational celebration of a proud group of indigenous people working to preserve their cultural past while incorporating the potential of the future through the strength and beauty of their art."

- Hawaii International Film Festival

Erenora Puketapu-Hetet

(1941 - 2006)

Erenora was the daughter of Vera and Ihaia Puketapu. She was raised in the tribal settlement of her father’s people the Ngāti Hamua of Te Atiawa at Waiwhetu.

Rangi and Erenora courted when Rangi worked on the wharenui Arohanui ki te Tangata at Waiwhetu in the late 1950s. They were the first couple to be married in the meeting house a month after it opened.

Erenora learned taaniko weaving with her sister-in-law, Jean Puketapu and rourou from other women in her whānau as a young teenager.

At 19 and as a new member of the Hetet whānau with an obvious interest in weaving, she was taken under the wing of Rangi's grandmother, Rangimarie, who taught Erenora raranga, whatu kākahu and other weaving skills.

Erenora was renowned as both a traditional weaver and a contemporary Maori artist and was highly regarded as a teacher of weaving. Her work can be found in public and private collections throughout the world and has been exhibited widely throughout Australia, the Pacific, Europe and North America.