Post #158742 by I dream of tiki on Fri, May 13, 2005 4:57 PM

In this edition, Dominique discusses shells as money in PNG.

"When the Leahy brothers came into the Highlands of Papua New Guinea searching for gold, they found people who valued the gold-lipped pearl shell as much as the miners valued gold. Shells are valuable all over New Guinea, but especially so in the Highlands where the traditional trading contacts between tribes slowly passed shells from ocean to mountain valleys.The mountain people had no concept of the sea, but they wanted the rare, glowing shells. After contact, at the time, the Leahy's and others flew in thousands of shells to pay their laborers. The Papua New Guinea currency equivalent of the dollar is called the kina as a result, but shells endure and are still used in traditional ceremonial payment as well as pectoral ornements."

Closeup of kina necklace(below). Mount-Hagen area. (20th Century)

"Kinas, mother of pearl necklaces, are rare treasures from Papua, were worn either alone or in great quantities and made of large mother of pearl moon shaped pieces (the gold-lipped pearl shell is cut into crescent shapes called kina) & decorated with fibers, brown pigments etc…Strung on very fine fibers, they are often tinted with red ochre, and sometimes decorated with small cowry shells set into resin paste. Small dots are often drilled to accentuate the shape."