Edna Pahewa
Expert Weaver
Te Arawa, Tuhourangi, Ngati Wahiao, Ngati Umutahi
Edna Pahewa personifies calm.
Sit with her a little while and the world falls into place, everything is as it should be. “It’s the weaving. It calms you. It won’t allow you to rush. It teaches you that everything will happen in its own time.”
Time has been the healer for Edna. She is the daughter of internationally renowned weaver, Emily Schuster, who founded the present weaving school at Te Puia. The mantle was then handed to Edna’s twin sister, Dawn Smith, who died only a few years after their mother. “Losing Mum, then Dawn, was difficult for me. I was so very mamae (hurting) and then I decided it was time to come home.”
It is through teaching and sharing her family’s love of weaving at the school which helped Edna to find her own peace and place. “I feel them around me all the time, encouraging and giving me strength to continue the work. You know, I’m very lucky because I know where I belong.”
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