Honiara, and dispatching goods to remote locations on the island, where they are sometimes purchased by middlemen who keep "stores" (usually of suitcase side) in remote places. Arts The Malaitans are famous for their music and dance, which are sometimes associated with rituals. Several of the groups, including the 'Are'are, famous for their panpipe ensembles, are among SSEC members whose traditional music is no longer performed for religious reasons. Secular dancing is similar to widespread patterns in the Solomons, following patterns learned from plantation labour gangs or moves learned at the cinema in Honiara. Sacred dances follow strict formal patterns, and incorporate panpipers in the group. Some dances represent traditional activities, such as the tue tue dance, about fishing, which depict movements of the boat and fish, and the birds overhead. Malaitan shell-money, manufactured in the Langalanga lagoon, is the traditional currency, and was used throughout the Solomon Islands, as far as Bougainville. The money consists of small polished shell disks which are drilled and placed on strings. It can be used as payment for brideprice, funeral feasts and compensation, as well ordinary purposes as a cash equivalent. It is also worn as an adornment and status symbol. The standard unit, known as the tafuliae, is several strands 1.5 m in length. Previously the money was also manufactured on Makira and Guadalcanal. It is still produced on Malaita, but much is inherited, from father to son, and the old traditional strings are now rare. Porpoise teeth are also used as money, often woven into belts. Notes References Roger Keesing, Kwaio Religion: The Living and the Dead in a Solomon Island Society. New York: Columbia University Press, 1982. Roger M. Keesing and Peter Corris. Lightning Meets the West Wind: The Malaita Massacre. Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1980. Janet Kent. The Solomon Islands. Harrisburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 1972. James Page, 'Education and Acculturation on Malaita: An Ethnography of Intraethnic and Interethnic Affinities'.The Journal of Intercultural Studies. 1988. #15/16:74-81; available on-line at http://eprints.qut.edu.au/archive/00003566/. Ples Blong Iumi: Solomon Islands: The Past Four Thousand Years. Honiara: University of the South Pacific, 1989. Harold M. Ross. Baegu: Social and Ecological Organization in Malaita, Solomon Islands. Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1973. Further reading Guppy, Henry B. (1887) The Solomon Islands and Their Natives''. London: Swan Sonnenschein, Lowrey & Co Islands of the Solomon Islands Important Bird Areas of the Solomon Islands