The Livatu is a unit used by the Turaga indigenous movement and the

Tangbunia Bank The Tangbunia Bank (widely misreported as ''Tari Bunia'') is a bank run by the Turaga indigenous movement on Pentecost Island in Vanuatu. It is notable for dealing in items of customary wealth such as hand-woven mats, shells or pig tusks rather ...

Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (french: link=no, République de Vanuatu; bi, Ripablik blong Vanuatu), is an island country located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of no ...

to reckon the worth of items of traditional currency such as pigs and textiles. One livatu is equivalent to one fully curved boar's tusk, a symbolic item of value in Vanuatu culture. Long dyed mats, a less valuable item of exchange, are worth up to a half a livatu. According to Chief Viraleo, manager of the Tangbunia Bank, the value of 1 livatu is fixed at 18,000

vatu The vatu ( abbreviation: VT;The Reserve Bank of Vanuatu.Current Banknotes and Coins in Circulation" Accessed 2 March 2013. ISO code: VUV) is the currency of Vanuatu. The vatu has no subdivisions. Etymology The term ''vatu'', used in all thr ...

(approximately ). This approximately reflects the price for which tusks sell in the markets of

Port Vila Port Vila (french: Port-Vila), or simply Vila (; french: Vila; bi, Vila ), is the capital and largest city of Vanuatu. It is located on the island of Efate. Its population in the last census (2009) was 44,040, an increase of 35% on the pr ...

. Account holders at the bank can make transfers and write cheques in livatu.

Etymology

The word ''livatu'' is a compound derived from Raga ''livo'' "tooth, tusk" and ''vatu'' "stone". ''Livo'' derives from

Proto-Oceanic Proto-Oceanic (abbr. ''POc'') is a proto-language that historical linguists since Otto Dempwolff have reconstructed as the hypothetical common ancestor of the Oceanic subgroup of the Austronesian language family. Proto-Oceanic is a descendant ...

''*lipon'', from

Proto-Malayo-Polynesian Proto-Malayo-Polynesian (PMP) is the reconstructed ancestor of the Malayo-Polynesian languages, which is by far the largest branch (by current speakers) of the Austronesian language family. Proto-Malayo-Polynesian is ancestral to all Austronesi ...

and

Proto-Austronesian Proto-Austronesian (commonly abbreviated as PAN or PAn) is a proto-language. It is the reconstructed ancestor of the Austronesian languages, one of the world's major language families. Proto-Austronesian is assumed to have begun to diversify ...

''*lipen'', a variant of ''*nipen''/''*ŋipen'' (compare Samoan ''nifo'' and Tagalog ''ngipin''). ''Vatu'' derives from Proto-Oceanic ''*patu'', from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian and Proto-Austronesian ''*batu'' (compare Malay ''batu'', Samoan ''fatu'' and Tagalog ''bato'').

Tuvatu banknotes

In September 2014, the Gaogogona Destiny Reserve System, an institution of the Turaga movement, announced plans to issue paper banknotes, referred to as tuvatu, to be used as an "indigenous currency". (''Tuvatu'' refers to the paper money, while ''livatu'' refers to traditional items of value such as pig's tusks.) Sample designs have been issued, in denominations ranging from 1 tuvatu to 1000 tuvatu. Once in circulation these are intended to be interchangeable with the

, Vanuatu's normal currency, at a rate of 20,000 vatu to the tuvatu. Compared with the vatu coins and notes currently in circulation in Vanuatu, these banknotes represent extremely large amounts of money, reflecting Turaga's belief that the Western economic system undervalues local people's traditional assets. The

Reserve Bank of Vanuatu The Reserve Bank of Vanuatu is the central bank of Vanuatu (an island country located in the South Pacific Ocean). It was initially known as the Central Bank of Vanuatu after the nation's independence from France and the United Kingdom. The ban ...

has stated that it does not recognise the tuvatu as a currency and warned that those using it risk prosecution, since Section 17.1 of the Reserve Bank Act gives the Reserve Bank of Vanuatu the sole right to issue coins and banknotes in Vanuatu. Turaga dispute this interpretation of the law, arguing that the Reserve Bank Act was intended only to prohibit counterfeiting of vatu, and that the tuvatu is an expression of the right to pursue traditional customs which is enshrined in the Vanuatu constitution."Chief Vireleo explains Tuvatu Currency", Vanuatu Daily Post, 2 October 2014

References

External links

BBC news - paying in pig tusks in Vanuatu

{{morecat, date=December 2019 Vanuatuan culture Alternative currencies Currencies of Oceania Circulating currencies Currencies of the Commonwealth of Nations Economy of Vanuatu