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July 24, 2008 10:47:06 PM CDT

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Island Nation Favors 4-Legged Currency

Posted Dec 26, 07 1:42 PM CST in Arts & Living,  World 

(Newser) – Vanuatu, a former Anglo-French colony once called the world's happiest country, is de-emphasizing cash in favor of traditional forms of exchange: shells, necklaces, grass mats, and pigs. The Telegraph travels to the South Pacific, where Vanuatu's government decreed a "Year of the Traditional Economy," encouraging citizens to reject consumerism and embrace alternative understandings of wealth.

In 2005, Vanuatu's council of chiefs decreed that suitors could no longer pay a bride price in cash and must use pigs and yams. UNESCO is helping set up "banks" for traditional currencies and pegging exchange rates. One of the most valuable currencies is a rare hermaphroditic pig found on only one remote island. "We've realized that money isn't everything," said one anthropologist.

Source Daily Telegraph (UK)

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A market in Port Vila, Vanuatu. In Vanuatu, cash is increasingly giving way to traditional forms of exchange.   ((c) PhillipC)
In Vanuatu, cash is increasingly giving way to traditional forms of exchange.   ((c) PhillipC)
A man in Vanuatu carrying kava. In Vanuatu, cash is increasingly giving way to traditional forms of exchange.   ((c) Graham Crumb)
A market in Port Vila, Vanuatu. In Vanuatu, cash is increasingly giving way to traditional forms of exchange.   ((c) Graham Crumb)
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