Malaita 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. Malaita Malaita is the largest island of the Malaita Province in Solomon Islands. South Malaita Island, also known as "Small Malaita" and "Maramasike" for Areare speakers and Malamweimwei known to more
Santa Isabel Island Maestre de Campo Pedro Ortega Valencia and Alférez Hernando Enríquez resulted in the discoveries of the islands of Malaita, Guadalcanal, Savo, Vangunu, Choiseul, Makira, Ulawa, Malaupaina, Malaulalo, Ali'ite, and Ugi Island. The Spanish immediately came into contact with Solomon Islanders and at first the relationship was cordial. However, the Spanish expedition's need for fresh food and water quickly led to tension and conflict, the Solomon Islanders’ subsistence economy being unable to provide continuous supplies to the Spanish. Having found no gold and little food, and beset by attacks and sickness, the Spanish colonists shifted their colony to the site of