We recently attended a conference at which a non-Maori presenter, drawing on a particular metaphor already established by Maori writers, related Maori natural world features to a research method. The presentation was useful because it highlighted several issues that call for our concern as Maori philosophers. In this article, we outline these concerns, which are: first, that a blunt response to such a presentation is not undertaken lightly from a Maori viewpoint; and, second, that the presenter's talk exemplifies a wider problem of warping Maori concepts and labels to fit a Western philosophical approach. We call this latter problem "Translation," because it involves moving the Maori world and its phenomena over into one that is palatable for policy and research. The aim of the article is not to single out the presenter, but rather to refer to his presentation in order to consider the prior issue of Translation. In cases where Translation occurs, a Maori critical philosophical stance is clearly needed, in order to both investigate the warping of Maori thought on which it relies, and review the place of Maori philosophy and philosophical response in the arena of educational research.