We wanted our collective to have a new name that connects deeply to our past and future. To honour the whakapapa of the people and the technology that led to the formation of Mātou and the future we envisage.

Our team has undergone a significant transformation. We began as a small group developing the open-source project Āhau (meaning 'I am' in Te Reo Māori). Under the name Digital Aotearoa Collective, we brought together collaborators on the Regulation-as-code project to support the Citizens Advice Bureau in New Zealand. Then, the TribalDIDs project, which focused on culturally appropriate DIDs and VCs for indigenous tribes in Aotearoa, saw 18 months of work from multiple contributors. All of this has seen us grow in numbers, scope and the range of opportunities we have to improve life.

Now, we've evolved into a Collective of people and technologies called Mātou, meaning 'We are' in Te Reo Māori. This transition represents much more than a name change; it is a complete reimagining of our mission and approach to digital infrastructure.

Āhau served as the foundation for our work focusing on connecting people and saving precious digital artefacts, supporting Māori communities in managing their data sovereignty. However, as we've grown and our vision has expanded, we've realised the need for a better structure to accommodate our broader aspirations and collaborative spirit.

The decision to move away from Āhau as a limited liability company was difficult, but ultimately, we recognized that to truly embody our values of sovereignty, zero distance, and pluralism, we needed a brand, structure, and systems that fully support decentralised, polycentric governance, operations, and resource allocation.
 
Enter Mātou Collective. This new entity allows us to operate flexibly and align more closely with our principles. As a collective, we're better positioned to work on projects beyond our initial focus, embracing a wider range of communities and technologies.

Our transition to Mātou Collective underscores our commitment to open-source development and community-driven initiatives. We’re enthusiastic about the possibilities this new structure unlocks, from exploring innovative funding models to deepening collaborations with global partners in decentralized protocols, digital identity, and Web3 technologies.

The digital landscape is at a crucial inflection point, where the convergence of decentralized technologies, governance models, and global Web3 initiatives offers an unprecedented opportunity to rethink the foundations of digital infrastructure. For Mātou Collective, this moment is particularly significant. We stand at the intersection of Māori data sovereignty and cutting-edge blockchain solutions, uniquely positioned to influence the next generation of decentralised systems.

Our mission has always been centred on the principle of mana motuhake (self-determination), ensuring Māori control over their own digital identities, data, and knowledge systems. As part of this effort, Mātou’s work on initiatives like TribalDIDs and TribalDAOs has laid the groundwork for creating decentralized, culturally aligned governance structures​.

Now, with Cardano's participatory governance initiatives and their focus on inclusivity, transparency, and resilience, we see a clear alignment of our vision with their platform. The current developments in Cardano's ecosystem, such as refining their governance processes and constitutional framework, present an ideal environment to advance our mission. This synergy allows us to integrate our principles of whakapapa-centric data governance into an established yet evolving blockchain network.

By leveraging Cardano’s infrastructure, we can ensure that our collective’s work—rooted in Indigenous methodologies and community engagement​​—can scale globally while maintaining the integrity of our kaupapa. This partnership enables us to bring our approach to decentralized governance to a wider audience, showcasing how blockchain technology can be used for cultural preservation, self-determination, and economic resilience​.

Now is the time to reintroduce ourselves as Mātou Collective, harnessing the momentum of this transformative phase in the Web3 space. By doing so, we are not just observers but active participants in shaping a digital future that aligns with our values and the aspirations of Indigenous communities worldwide.