This article explores a synergy of inquiry-based learning and a cultural pedagogy within a Maori environment, the "marae" (communal meeting place) while using Academic Co-Creative Inquiry (ACCI), an innovative approach to teaching and learning which enables teachers and students to cocreate the content and the process of the course through personalized inquiries. Three areas form the focus of this article: an exploration of cultural pedagogy within a "marae" space, an ACCI process, and the culturally responsive "Maori" pedagogy of "ako" (teaching and learning). These three areas created a context for transformative learning. Authors reflect on how three academic women, two "Maori" and one "Pakeha" (person of European descent) each explored how the physical space of "Ngakau Mahaki" (name of the carved meeting house, meaning respectful heart) at "Te Noho Kotahitanga Marae" (name of the marae complex) contributed to transformative teaching and learning processes.