Malaita massacre kept relating to the massacre were helpful in establishing a lengthy demographic history of the Kwaio people for ethnographer Roger M. Keesing; such a long record is possibly unique among traditional Melanesian societies. Malaita massacre The Malaita massacre inflicted a large number of deaths on the island of Malaita in the Solomon Islands in late 1927. William R. Bell, the District Officer of Malaita in the British Solomon Islands Protectorate, and many of his deputies were killed by Basiana and other Kwaio warriors as part of a plan to resist the head tax imposed by the colonial authorities and what
Malaita Kwaio and 'Are'are regions, which may be a dialect of Kwaio. Sa'a, spoken on South Malaita, is also a member of the family. Mutual intelligibility is also aided by the large degree of trade and intermarriage among the groups. The peoples of Malaita share many aspects of their culture, although they are generally divided into ethnic groups along linguistic lines. In pre-colonial times, settlements were small and moved frequently. Both agnatic descent (patrilineal lines from a founding ancestor) and cognatic descent (through links of outmarrying women) are important. These lineages determine rights of residence and land use in a complex