Western Influence on the Tiv

For my post this week, I would like to respond to the article by Bohannah about the Tiv and provide some topics for discussion. .I was most interested by the complications western influences created for the Tiv peoples economy.Visitors from the west tried to shift the Tiv method of exchange and gift giving from what was outlines in the first section to a system based on currency, and this caused a great deal of problems for the Tiv. Mainly it brought a new dynamic to their process of exchange which complicated gift giving, market exchanges, and marriage dowry practices already being implemented. After this change, the Tiv found themselves with less resources as more was being exported for money, and in my opinion i believe this process will only continue until the Tiv find themselves with greater levels of inequality and accessibility to resources characteristic of a western economy. The questions I would pose for discussion are as follows. Was the influence the Western nations had on the Tiv positive? Was it right for this form of change to be encouraged by the West? What reasons are there for why the conversion may not be well received by the Tiv?