A major new research project led by Auckland University of Technology will combine mātauranga Māori, environmental science and traditional weaving knowledge to help save one of Aotearoa’s most culturally significant coastal plants and protect the future of tukutuku.
Two AUT research networks have been awarded almost $300,000 by the Coastal People: Southern Skies Centre of Research Excellence to undertake the collaborative project Ngā Taonga Tuku Iho – The Restoration of Pīngao to Save the Traditional Māori Art of Tukutuku.
The two-and-a-half-year programme will run from July 2026 through to November 2028, bringing together Māori researchers, scientists, weavers and iwi to restore the mauri of coastal ecosystems while safeguarding an important part of Māori cultural heritage.
At the centre of the project is pīngao, also known as pīkao, a distinctive golden sand-binding plant that grows on Aotearoa’s coastal dunes. The native sedge has long been one of the primary weaving materials used to create tukutuku panels found inside wharenui, where intricate designs preserve whakapapa, identity, history and relationships.
Researchers say the decline of pīngao threatens not only coastal biodiversity but also the continuation of one of Māori architecture’s most recognisable and meaningful art forms.
The project responds directly to concerns raised by iwi and experienced weavers during recent wānanga, where the declining availability of pīngao has emerged as a significant challenge for maintaining traditional weaving practices, cultural transmission and the use of te reo Māori.
One of the project’s major outcomes will be the creation of the first national map of pīngao populations in more than three decades. Researchers will combine ecological field surveys, historical datasets and the knowledge of weaving communities to identify where the species continues to thrive, where it has disappeared and which sites hold particular cultural significance.
The initiative brings together expertise from AUT’s Te Ipukarea Institute for Indigenous Knowledge, the Te Ranga Tukutuku AUT Māori Research Network and the Te Whare Tūroa AUT Regenerative Environments Research Network, alongside scientists from the University of Otago and members of the Raukura Weavers Collective.
The research also extends beyond Aotearoa through a Pacific knowledge exchange with the Cook Islands, recognising the shared weaving traditions, native fibre plants and Indigenous approaches to environmental stewardship found across the Pacific.
Researchers will use kaupapa Māori methodologies including wānanga, hui, oral histories and participatory storytelling, alongside Pacific frameworks such as talanoa and ‘uipa’anga, ensuring Indigenous knowledge remains central to both the research process and its outcomes.
The project will document mātauranga Māori relating to pīngao, coastal ecosystems, harvesting techniques and associated language in both te reo Māori and English. Importantly, all cultural knowledge generated through the project will remain under the authority of knowledge holders in accordance with Indigenous data sovereignty principles.
With pīngao now officially classified as At Risk – Declining under New Zealand’s Threat Classification System, researchers hope the project will not only help restore fragile coastal dune ecosystems but also ensure future generations can continue to weave the stories, identity and whakapapa of Māori into the walls of wharenui throughout Aotearoa.
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