This paper highlights two methodological issues that arose for a group of Māori researchers during the first few months of a Māori CoRE funded project. The issues were in relation to defining 1) the evolving construction of Māori whānau in New Zealand, and 2) an away from home hospital transfer. Through the process of reflexive practice about our knowledge constructs the research team highlight some of the complexities that we as indigenous researchers had to navigate when working within a cultural context. We describe the details of the Hospital Transfers project and reflect on the learning experienced during the pilot interview phase of a three year project.