Cultural Differences

This Solomon Island woman proudly displays a necklace, which includes dolphin teeth. I lived in the Solomon Islands for three years when Ethnic fighting was taking place, which led to a subsequent coup and a militant take-over. It was sad as the Solomon Islands is probably one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen, especially when you get out of Honiara. It is also a place that tests your cultural tolerances. I remember when one of my workers proudly showed me one day a necklace made of dolphin teeth. He told me the teeth are very valuable and still used for things such as paying a bride price. The people hunt the dolphins in canoes and bang stones under water to attract them. They would herd the dolphins into the shore of one of the lagoons, where they would get disorientated. The people would then kill them, turning the lagoon red with blood. Although they would eat the meat of the dolphin, it was the teeth that was the most valuable. It would take a number of dolphins just to make one necklace. To most of the world, it is a barbaric practice. But the people of the Solomon Islands have been using them for trade for centuries. Even the Governor of the Central Bank in the Solomon Islands said that the teeth are like gold. People use them as a measure of their wealth. I'm not going to judge, but I think I will stick to other forms of currency for now. Hopefully the economic crises won't reach the point where I need to pay for my McDonalds meal with a couple of Dolphin teeth. I can just picture it now, "you can upsize your meal for only an extra tooth".