What we are building
Cola vina, Bula vina’a and Bula vinaka,
We are Emele and Bose, a husband and wife duo. An Aries and Pisces pair of dreamers that are building the life we want for ourselves and our children.
Yavu ni Mataka means ‘Foundation of Tomorrow’ in vosa vakaViti.
Emele is a storyteller, educator and cultural strategist from Tokelau, Uvea and Fiji. Bose is a Gonedau (traditional fisherman) and Dauteitei (Farmer) from Fiji. Together we are building the Yavu ni Mataka - an Indigenous futures focused social enterprise.
The Mataka Foundation is an ecosystem designed by and for Indigenous autonomy. We believe that a resilient future is grown from the sovereignty of our land, our stories, and our time. Based in Deuba, Fiji, our work is an invitation to step out of extractive cycles and into a lifestyle of intentionality.
Our Philosophy: We operate at the intersection of traditional ecological knowledge, research and the digital horizon. Whether we are tending to the soil or navigating immersive technologies, our goal remains constant: to ensure we create conditions for Pacific peoples (ourselves included) to have the agency to thrive holistically - physically, mentally, spiritually, environmentally, artistically, and economically.
Our Pillars of Sovereignty:
Temporal Sovereignty: Reclaiming our time to allow for deep relational work, creative dreaming, and labour that honours the person over the product.
Story Sovereignty: Ensuring our stories - past, present, and speculative - remain in the hands of the community who lived them.
Ecological Sovereignty: Practicing regenerative agriculture that maintains our relationship with the Vanua and secures our collective future.