**2. Background: The Saltwater People of Malaita**

The distinction between wane asi (saltwater people or to'aiasi) and wane tolo (forest people or to'aitolo) is a salient feature of human ecology in Melanesia [17,18]. The wane asi are fishers who barter fish for root crops and vegetables with the wane tolo, shifting cultivators who inhabit the forested interior of Malaita (see Figure 2). This distinction is not absolute. Nowadays, many wane asi maintain agricultural plots and many wane tolo are fishing, and intermarriage is common [19]. Nonetheless, many communities continue to identify themselves as wane asi: The livelihoods, worldview, and identity of these people revolve around fishing and the sea.

**Figure 2.** Women barter fish for root crops in Lau Lagoon (J. van der Ploeg 2017).

Little is known about the origins of the "island builders of the Pacific" [20]. Oral history recounts that the first artificial islands were constructed in the 16th century by people from the uplands of Malaita fleeing from war, sorcery, or famine [21]. It has also been postulated that the island settlements were an adaptation to endemic malaria in the lowlands [22]. In any case, a vibrant culture developed in the lagoons and mangrove forests of Malaita. The most important ethnic groups are the Lau, on the northeast coast, and the Langalanga, on the west coast.
