ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Hiri trade cycle

The hiri trade cycle is like a big game of trading that people in Papua New Guinea played a long time ago. People who lived by the coast would bring things like fish and shells to people who lived in the mountains. The people in the mountains would trade those things for things like clay pots and feathers. Then they would trade those things to people in other areas for things like bark cloth and jewelry. And those people would trade those things to other people for things like yams and pigs. Finally, the people who had the yams and pigs would trade them to the people who lived by the coast for more fish and shells.

So it's like a big circle where everyone gets the things they want by trading with each other. It's like if you wanted a toy car but you didn't have any money, you could trade your toy truck for someone else's toy car, and then trade that toy car to someone else for a cool action figure. And then you could trade that action figure to someone else for a toy airplane, and then trade the airplane to someone else for the toy car you really wanted in the first place!

The hiri trade cycle was really important to the people in Papua New Guinea because it helped them get things they needed for their families and communities. It was like a big game of trading that made everyone happy!