Whakakiia te rerenga e whai ake nei: I whanau a Kalniete ki Togur, Kolpashevsky District, Tomsk Oblast, Siberia, Russia, i reira i peia ai tona whanau mai i Latvia e te pirihimana ngaro o Soviet i te wa i nohoia ai tana whenua e te Soviet Union, hei mahi pononga. Ko tana whaea a Ligita Kalniete (née Dreifelde, 1926-2006) i tukuna tuatahihia me tana whaea me tana papa
i te tau 1941, i muri mai ka hoki mai a Ligita i te tau 1948, ka whakahokia atu ano i te tau 1949. Ko tana papa a Aivars Kalnietis (whanau i te tau 1931) i peia tahi me tona whaea i te tau 1949. I kite noa ia i tona whenua whanau i te wa e rima ona tau, i te wa i whakaaetia ai te whanau ki te hoki mai i te tau 1957.