Two species, Canarium salomonense B. L. Burtt and C. indicum L. were formerly used by Solomon Islands cultures as principal sources of food (seeds), resin, and wood as well as a variety of ceremonial activities. Although the species are botanically quite similar, Babatana and Ririo speakers from Lauru (Choiseul) Island consider C. salomonense superior for many uses, particularly in activities of special spiritual significance. Ethnographic interviews were used to quantitatively evaluate hypotheses about community perceptions of differences between the species. Weighted and unweighted evaluations were made within emic activity categories based upon frequency of interaction with Canarium and importance of species selectivity within the interaction activity. No significant difference was found between the species based upon unweighted frequency of use within activity categories. However, C. salomonese is significantly more important for use in activities when its relative cultural importance was used to weight the comparison. This example supports a broad conclusion that importance of a species to a culture is more complex than its simple usefulness.