Born and raised near her ancestral marae Tokikapu in Waitomo, of Ngati Uekaha and Maniapoto descent, she received early grants from the Council for Maori and Pacific Arts and Department of Labour to fund her work.
She worked on a Polynesian language oral history map that traced migration routes across the Pacific through the naming of places, plants and animals.
Then from that came the realisation that there were a whole lot of fibre things that needed restoration, particularly on marae, such as the whariki and old kete that people hold dear.
"[4] A rain cape made by Davis in the collection of Te Papa was worn by the Crown Princess Masako of Japan on a visit to New Zealand in 2002.
[8] In 1990, Davis was awarded the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal,[9] and in the 1993 Queen's Birthday Honours, she was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, for services to weaving and the community.