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that goes from Atui to Kimbe, which usually takes two days by foot, but can take three when travelling with children or cargo.
Kaskas and Atui are located on small islands, and so people in those villages did not report using any trails within the language area. Amio and Poronga are located on the mainland, and people from both
villages also reported using local trails to go to their gardens and nearby villages. People from Amio reported that they use local trails to go to the mainland near Kaskas, to the Lote village of Uvol and to
the Mangseng village of Amelei. Respondents from Poronga said that they use local trails to go to their gardens, to Asirim Aighon language area and to Lulakevi Avau language area.
Air Travel
People in Amio, Kaskas and Atui used to fly to Kimbe from Fulleborne airstrip, located halfway between Kaskas and Atui. However, respondents reported that the airstrip closed sometime between 1987 and
1998, and people from those villages no longer travel by air. Respondents in Amio said that they do not need to fly now that they have a road. Only one man from Atui has flown. From Kimbe he flew to Port
Moresby and then on to Hong Kong. It is not known how he travelled to Kimbe.
Poronga residents reported that sometimes people fly to Kimbe from Gasmata station. It takes one day of travel time to get to Gasmata from Poronga, either by canoe or dinghy. Only a few people in the
community, usually those involved in business, ever travel by air. For example, during the survey it was reported that a man had flown to Port Moresby the previous month to talk with a company there.
4.1.3 Economics
According to Landweer language communities that do not need to use a second language to meet their perceived economic needs typically have higher language vitality than those that are dependent on an
economic base outside the language area 2006:209. The Amio-Gelimi people are able to meet most of their economic needs from within the Amio-Gelimi area and they have few outside sources of income, so
their contact with non-Amio-Gelimi speakers for economic purposes is limited. Some men from Atui and Poronga work in environments where they speak Tok Pisin, and people in Kaskas and Poronga
occasionally sell things to outsiders, communicating in Tok Pisin. However, this contact is limited and does not appear to have an impact on the vitality of Amio-Gelimi at this time.
Respondents in Atui and Poronga have contact with a European man through Crown Timber, located on the mainland near Atui. Crown started working in the Amio-Gelimi area in early 2009, and so has
been in the area for less than a year. Many people from Atui work for Crown Timber. When at work they speak Tok Pisin with their co-workers, some of whom are from other language areas. Three people from
Poronga, two of whom are immigrants while the third is an Amio-Gelimi man, also work at Crown Timber. The Amio-Gelimi man reportedly uses Amio-Gelimi at work when speaking to co-workers from
the Amio-Gelimi language area, and the other two use Tok Pisin.
Poronga residents also have contact with the Lindenhafen Resort, located within a short walk from Poronga. Resort guests fly to Gasmata and are then transferred to Lindenhafen by boat. Seven Amio-
Gelimi people are employed by the Australian-run resort. Some people from Lulakevi, the neighbouring village in the Avau language, also work at Lindenhafen. Amio-Gelimi employees speak Amio-Gelimi to
the Avau employees, who understand and reply in Avau, which the Amio-Gelimi employees understand. The employees most likely use Tok Pisin or English with the resort guests.
People in Amio said they have no sources of monetary income except selling fish and betelnut to others in their own village. Those in Kaskas sell items like fish, betelnut, cacao and coconuts to others in
their village and occasionally to outsiders. Respondents in Atui said that they do not have many ways of earning money, and working for Crown Timber is their primary source of income. People in Poronga said
that they sometimes sell copra and sea cucumbers to ships that travel through the area, and they also sell fish, coconuts, betelnut and tobacco to others in Poronga.
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4.1.4 Contact through institutions
