This paper is about the adoption of a novel way of using documentary analysis in order to be culturally responsive in a research setting. It describes an original method, located in an actual empirical study in a wānanga, that meshed the analysis of documents with a group hui through a bricolage approach. To support a Māori kaupapa, the researcher wished to incorporate values of participation and collaboration, thus overturning the traditional values of simplicity, passivity and individuality that are the purported advantages of documentary analysis. Embracing the method in a new and innovative manner was challenging, but it enabled the creation of a blended method combining the active and collaborative tenets of a focus group, and demonstrated commitment to the collective involvement of participants and relationship building under the umbrella of Māori ways of being and doing. The new method, documentary analysis hui, brought documents to life through culturally responsive conversations with the participants, and this paper highlights the strengths and weaknesses of daring to be different.