Kete pikau: A basket of knowledge - 'guidelines from back home'.

From the perspective of one rural New Zealand Māori community involved in a health service research study, this article describes 'Te Tomokanga' - an established local Māori model of engagement. This model served as an essential guide for researchers coming into the community and at the same time, enabled the community to take ownership of the research process. This may have applicability to research in rural Indigenous communities elsewhere.