Throughout Solomon Islands, people made rings from different shells to wear, trade or exchange. Large shell rings made of giant clam shell are especially important and are displayed in many parts of Solomon Islands, including Isabel, as symbols of the holder’s chiefly position in society.

These bakiha – a term used widely in Isabel languages, are thick, flat-sided, finely shaped rings of clamshell, sometimes polished and smooth. Bakiha marked with orange-yellow streaks are considered to be of higher significance and value than are those that are all-white, which is more common.

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