For several years thereafter, the area produced no marketable items. Since that time, the government has made an effort to improve the economy. Cloves were successfully introduced on plantations and lumber firms were also begun. Many earn their living as merchants, while others work as lumberjacks or sailors. Tolitoli villages, which are located mainly on the coastal strips, are small and consist of houses built on stilts.
Marriage ceremonies follow a Muslim pattern and are arranged by a mediator.
Marriages between cousins are preferred. Once married, a couple usually lives with his or her family until the first child is born. Muslim merchants from Arabia and India were among the first to introduce Islam to Indonesia. However, many are less strict in their Islamic practices than are the Muslims in other Arab countries. In isolated areas of Sulawesi, some Tolitoli still follow ancient local religions by mixing ancestor and nature worship with Islam and Christianity.