Government agencies and other organizations around the globe continually implement programs in the name of development. In Tonga, a micro-credit scheme meant to promote the development of women was determined a failure by the donors because instead of making commercial handicrafts for the tourist market, Tongan women produced the ceremonial textiles known as koloa, which are central to traditional indigenous wealth. The lenders viewed this as “just the making and retaining of ‘cultural variables’ supporting non-economic traditional exchange production” and a rejection of the cash economy. While this micro-credit program would seem a resounding success in financially empowering Tongan women, a limited view of development by lending agencies casts a dark shadow on this and similar projects. As Horan points out, it may be time to construct a new, culturally sensitive model of development, one that is not restricted to the cash economy but recognizes the value of indigenous wealth and traditional economic systems.
