The Turaga nation (from ''tu'' "stand" and ''raga'', a tribal name) is an indigenous movement based in northern Pentecost Island, Vanuatu. Its leader is Chief Viraleo Boborenvanua, and it has also been associated with

Motarilavoa Hilda Lin̄i Motarilavoa Hilda Lin̄i is a chief of the Turaga nation of Pentecost Island in Vanuatu in the South Pacific, who has been associated with the nuclear-free Pacific movement, women's rights, indigenous rights, and environmental issues. Following ...

. The organisation has its headquarters in the traditional village of Lavatmanggemu on the north-east coast of Pentecost. The Turaga movement promotes the revival of traditional Melanesian customs, modernised in certain respects. In place of the Western economic system, which is seen as a cause of poverty and foreign dependency, the movement promotes the ''kastom'' (custom) economy, based on traditional systems of economic exchange and native forms of currency such as pigs and woven mats. The Turaga movement operates its own bank (called Tangbunia after the giant baskets in which valuables were traditionally stored) at which these items can be deposited, and has devised a unit of currency (the

livatu The Livatu is a unit used by the 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 symbolic item ...

, equal to the value of a fully curved boar's tusk) in which their value can be reckoned. Turaga has also announced controversial plans to print its own paper currency."Chief Vireleo explains Tuvatu Currency", Vanuatu Daily Post, 2 October 2014 The movement operates a school, the Melanesian Institute of Science, Philosophy, Humanity and Technology (''Bwatielen Borebore, Vovoraga, Mwaguana i Gotovigi'') at which scholars are offered an alternative to the Western-style education provided by Vanuatu's other schools. The school follows a curriculum of its own creation, with teaching organised according to a native lunar calendar. Scholars write in the native Raga language or in Bislama, using an alphabet named Avoiuli developed by Viraleo and inspired by traditional sand drawings. The Turaga movement has caused controversy, with some dismissing the movement as self-serving, as a cargo cult, or as a step backwards into heathenism. The movement has also been criticised for promoting its own particular interpretation of traditional culture. However, Turaga's leaders argue that the values they promote are common to all traditional Melanesian societies and are not incompatible with Christianity.

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External links

Turaga Development Model For Economic Self-Reliance and Human Security
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BBC news - paying in pig tusks in Vanuatu

Cargo cults Organisations based in Vanuatu