The administration plans a study of tabu, particularly the spacing between the tabu shells plus the length of a fathom. Officials will travel to Malaita Province in the Solomon Islands to see the operational structure and policies of the customary wealth banks there. They will also visit Port Vila, the capital of Vanuatu to study how the credit union league is mobilizing the customary wealth economy. The shell disks were heated to deepen their color and increase their value. The villagers in Langa Langa Lagoon make most of their income from producing shell money and jewelry.
Families sell their shell products in the Honiara city market.
You peep through the partly open door, the missus is rummaging through the coconut leaf basket and lining out long strings of beads, counting the strings of beads five at a time. She points to a small row of beads, neatly piled on the other side of the basket, ready for the sing sing. That's yours over there. All relatives are required to get up at the bride price ceremony and make a contribution of several fathoms of shell money to the young wife's parents. At birth, marriage or death and any event in between such as the opening of a new house, shell money or tabu as it is popularly known among the Tolais, plays a big part.