Melanesian societies provide unmatched opportunities for posing some of the most potent questions in anthropology. While modern money issued by the state has been accepted throughout Melanesia, many indigenous currencies, such as shells, survive. Why? What are the differences between shells and dollars? Are both simply a means of exchange? Why do Melanesians see money as both desirable and dangerous? Answers to these questions provide a window on the effect of money on social life throughout history.While scholars have long been aware of changing currency regimes in Melanesia, subtle ethnographic study has been rare. This collection of original essays fills this gap, exploring money and its social dynamic in eight different Melanesian communities. Editors David Akin and Joel Robbins synthesize the research and, in a penetrating analysis, describe new models for thinking about money.

In dreams, part of the self seems to wander off to undertake both mundane tasks and marvellous adventures. Anthropologists have found that many peoples take this experience of dreaming at face value, assuming that their spirits literally leave the body to travel, meet other spirits, and acquire valuable knowledge - with dramatic consequence for relationships, social organization, and religions. Dream Travellers is about Melanesian, Aboriginal Australian, and Indonesian peoples who hold this assumption. Several leading anthropologists contribute theoretically and ethnographically rich chapters, showing that attention to these peoples' dream lives deeply enhances our understanding of their cultures and waking lives as well.