This article draws on a master's study into programme decisions and processes of a Pakeha primary music teacher who sought to include matauranga Maori (Maori knowledge), tikanga Maori (Maori practices) and te ao Maori (a Maori way of seeing the world) in their teaching practice. The study investigated how children are enabled to experience matauranga Maori within an inquiry approach to teaching and learning, through engagement with taonga puoro (singing treasures) and the whakatauki (proverb) of the whakapapa (genealogy) of Maori music as stimuli for creative music-making. Drawing on action research and self-study, I conducted an intervention of eight music lessons with 28 children from Years 3 and 4. Findings emerged from an analysis of student questionnaires, my teacher journal, student reflections, and scores and audio recordings of students' creative music-making. In this article I focus specifically on two aspects of my findings: 1. The way that the teacher-as-learner position within inquiry pedagogy complements the ethos of ako (reciprocal learning), and the way a holistic, integrated learning approach is supported by the centrality of interconnection within te ao Maori. 2. The process by which a teacher might use the whakapapa of Maori music as a conceptual framework for inspiring a sound palette of the natural world in children and for scaffolding creative music-making. As a teacher I found that I could establish whanaungatanga (a family-like connection) in the primary music classroom through a relational pedagogy and valuing the children's individuality through collaborative processes. This small study reinforced my belief that teachers need to take responsibility for their bicultural practices in the classroom, that a complementary ethos of inquiry and Maori approaches to teaching and learning can be fostered, that inquiry pedagogy can be effective in music education, and that practical approaches for experiencing Maori knowledge, inspired by Maori music, can flourish in the primary music classroom.