Rangitiaria Dennan, M.B.E.

Te Ao Hou, 1972, Page 2

Rangitiaria Dennan, M.B.E. The passing of Guide Rangi was truly the end of an era. The tributes which poured into her home from hundreds in New Zealand and overseas, when they heard of her death, showed again how much her name was linked with Whakarewarewa. Born at Rotorua in 1897, Guide Rangi was educated at Hukarere College, shining at athletics and being dux of the school. Ill-health frustrated her attempts to make careers first of teaching and then nursing, and she turned to guiding. For 45 years she led people through Whaka, and those whose interest was genuine, famous or lowly, were also shown her personal carved treasures in the carved house built for her by her grandfather, master carver Tene Waitere. She received many honours, but always regarded them more as a tribute to her race than to herself. After her retirement in 1966, she worked on an autobiography, published in 1968. She was buried at Whakarewarewa beside her husband Te Aonui Dennan, who died in 1942, beneath the memorial to her husband's mother, Maggie Papakura, another famous guide.