Lau - Economy

Subsistence and Commercial Activities . Little, if any, horticulture was practiced before the introduction of manioc and sweet potatoes. It is believed that the gathering of plant foods supplemented by fishing, pig and chicken raising, and hunting sea turtles and crabs provided subsistence prior to the introduction of horticulture. Horticulture led to the development of a diversified subsistence economy based on yams, breadfruit, sweet potatoes, bananas, fish, and fowl. Pigs and sea turtles are now feast foods. Copra is the main Commercial crop. Lauans, because of their relatively small population and isolated location, have not been drawn into the national economy to the same extent as Fijians in the western islands.

Industrial Arts. Woodworking is highly developed. Much of the raw material comes from the heavy forests on the limestone islands. Buildings of various types and sizes are constructed, both sailing and paddling canoes are made, and men carve wooden bowls, headrests, slit gongs, cups, and weapons. Women make bark cloth and mats from pandanus leaves.

Trade. Interisland trade was active in traditional times and involved raw materials (timber, bark, vegetable oils), food (breadfruit, yams, taro, kava, shellfish, turtles), and manufactured items (canoes, bowls, mats, bark cloth). External trade with Europeans centered on the exporting of copra in exchange for manufactured items such as metal tools, matches, tobacco, cloth, and fuel. Trade with Tonga involved the exporting of timber and providing military training for Tongan nobles.

Division of Labor, The division of labor by sex relegates to men the tasks of house building, canoe making and sailing, woodworking, and sennit manufacture. Women make and decorate bark cloth, make mats, refine coconut oil, roll fish lines, and make nets. Both men and women make baskets from pandanus leaves. Carpenters often build or assist in the building of houses and are compensated for their services. In traditional times, priests and two types of curers (diagnosticians and healers) were prominent members of the community.

Land Tenure. In the past, clans owned the hamlets located in the interior. With the establishment of villages along the coast, clans became the owners of plots of land running inland from the coast as well as the gardens. Rights to bush lands and lagoons are controlled by the villages. Through a system called kerekere unused land is rented to others.