Māori sisters lead engineering project to protect mana of pou

Source: Radio New Zealand

Māori sisters are combining engineering and tikanga in a landmark project to ensure the mana of traditional pou is upheld.

Ngāpuhi and Waikato sisters Ngarui Manukau and Tiaho Wihongi-Minhinnick have been working on a design solution for Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, which plans to install four 10-metre-tall tōtara pou at a papakāinga in Ōrākei, Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland.

The project, supported by MĀPIHI, the Māori and Pacific Housing Research Centre at Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland, focuses on how to secure the 1.2 tonne carvings in the ground without compromising their cultural significance.

Wihongi-Minhinnick, 21, was chosen to lead the kaupapa while completing her Bachelor of Engineering.

“These are not just posts, they have stories, histories and mana in and of themselves,” Wihongi-Minhinnick said.

Her older sister, Ngarui Manukau, was called up to help with the kaupapa, after years of experience working in the industry. She told RNZ Ngāti Whātua wanted a solution that protected the integrity of the pou from the outset.

“They wanted something that actually enhanced the mana of the pou and didn’t distract or take away from it,” she said.

“They’ve seen a lot of instances where that has happened.”

Traditional engineering approaches often prioritise function over form, but Manukau said that mindset did not align with the kaupapa of the project.

“It’s not just if it works, that’s the bare minimum.”

Instead, the sisters have been working to develop a design that balances structural strength with cultural considerations.

The pou, which will stand 10 metres tall and measure about 600 millimetres in diameter, present significant engineering challenges. While concrete is still required, the sisters have explored ways to conceal structural elements and incorporate natural materials such as stone.

Manukau said there was little existing research in Aotearoa on how to approach this kind of work.

“There’s a big gap for this type of foundation design,” she said.

“We had to look at examples overseas, like Native American totem poles, because there wasn’t anything here.”

The project is still in its early stages, with the research phase completed and findings yet to be presented to Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei. The pou have not yet been carved, allowing the engineering design to be integrated into the process from the beginning.

Manukau said this approach should become standard practice.

“In other cases, it’s often an afterthought. This is the time where you want to make these decisions.

Beyond the technical challenge, the project highlights a broader issue, Manukau said, the lack of Māori, particularly wāhine Māori, in engineering.

Manukau, who graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) from the University of Auckland in 2021, said she did not grow up knowing what an engineer was.

“I didn’t even know engineering existed,” she said.

“That door only opened from a random conversation with a careers advisor.”

Since then, her two younger sisters have followed in her footsteps. Phoenix Manukau graduated in recent years, while Wihongi-Minhinnick has just completed her degree and will graduate soon.

“There’s three of us now,” Manukau said.

“That sort of blows my mind sometimes.”

The sisters are the only engineers in their whānau.

“It’s a brand new world to us,” she said.

“It’s rare to have a Māori female engineer, and even rarer to have three Māori engineer sisters together in a family.

“The challenge was that this was a whole, brand new world to us. The journey to get there was rough,” Manukau said.

Their presence in the field is still rare. Manukau said the number of Māori students in her university lectures was small, and even fewer were women.

“The amount of Māori in that room was tiny,” she said.

“When you get into the workforce, it’s even less – especially for Māori women.”

She said a lack of visibility was a key barrier.

“If you don’t even know it exists, you can’t aim for it.”

Manukau said that people might assume Māori have an easier time getting a degree, because of targeted entry schemes, but her and her sisters say the opposite is true.

“The reality is that as Māori and as women we have to work at least twice as hard to prove ourselves,” she said.

“And just when you think that it can’t be more isolating than that experience, you’re in the workforce … and it’s even worse,”

“At my last company I was the only Māori engineer … Phoenix and Tiaho share similar experiences, as well as others I know.”

Manukau said when working on large infrastructure projects, people often assumed she worked in the office.

“If a man was with me, they automatically assumed he was the engineer.

“Imagine their surprise when I introduced myself.”

Manukau said increasing Māori representation in engineering was critical to ensuring projects like the pou installation are approached in culturally appropriate ways.

“There’s a very one-dimensional way of thinking sometimes – as long as it works, that’s it,” she said.

“But that’s not the way we should be thinking about it.”

She said Māori perspectives were essential in projects involving taonga, where cultural meaning and whakapapa must be considered alongside technical requirements.

Manukau hopes the work will not only benefit Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, but also provide a foundation for others.

“I hope it’s a starting point for things to be built on,” she said.

“There is a different way to design things, and it should be normalised.”

She also hopes it encourages more Māori, particularly rangatahi, to consider engineering as a career.

“There are so many opportunities that come with it,” she said.

“If I can do it, you definitely can.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand