The Tangbunia Bank (widely misreported as ''Tari Bunia'') is a

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

run by the Turaga indigenous movement on

Pentecost Island Pentecost is one of the 83 islands that make up the Oceania, South Pacific nation of Vanuatu. It lies due north of capital Port Vila. Pentecost is known as in French language, French and in Bislama. The island was known in its native lan ...

Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (; ), is an island country in Melanesia located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of northern Australia, northeast of New Caledonia, east o ...

. It is notable for dealing in items of customary wealth such as hand-woven mats, shells or pig tusks rather than

currency A currency is a standardization of money in any form, in use or circulation as a medium of exchange, for example banknotes and coins. A more general definition is that a currency is a ''system of money'' in common use within a specific envi ...

such as the

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. It has no subdivisions. Etymology The term ''vatu'', used in all three off ...

. Accounts at the bank are reckoned in

livatu The Livatu is a unit used by the Turaga nation, Turaga indigenous movement and the Tangbunia Bank in Vanuatu 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 ...

, a unit equivalent to the value of one fully curved boar's tusk. The Tangbunia Bank has fourteen branches throughout the island, with its headquarters at Lavatmanggemu. The bank's manager is Chief Viraleo Boborenvanua. It was set up in accordance with the national government's support for the indigenous customary economy, in a country where a majority of the population does not participate extensively in a

monetary economy Monetary economics is the branch of economics that studies the different theories of money: it provides a framework for analyzing money and considers its functions (as medium of exchange, store of value, and unit of account), and it considers h ...

. According to the

British Broadcasting Corporation The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public broadcasting, public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved in ...

, the bank is similar to other banks in that it has "accounts, reserves, cheque books and tight security". The bank is named after the giant baskets in which valuables were traditionally stored.J P Taylor, 2008, ''The Other Side: Ways of Being and Place in Vanuatu'' Record-keeping at the Tangbunia bank is done using

Avoiuli Avoiuli (from Raga 'talk about' and 'draw' or 'paint') is a writing system used by the Turaga indigenous movement on Pentecost Island in Vanuatu. It was devised by Chief Viraleo Boborenvanua over a 14-year period, based on designs found in t ...

, a local writing system devised by

Chief Viraleo Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the boat ...

References

Banks of Vanuatu Culture of Vanuatu {{bank-stub