Kava in Pacific island traditions

Kava (Piper methysticum) is a shrub of the pepper family whose root yields a mildly numbing drink. The plant was probably domesticated thousands of years ago in Vanuatu and spread across the Pacific with Polynesian and Melanesian voyagers.

Kava is deeply woven into the cultures of Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Vanuatu, Hawaiʻi and other islands. The drink has many names: yaqona in Fiji, ʻava in Samoa, ʻawa in Hawaiʻi.

Europeans came to know kava during the voyages of James Cook in the eighteenth century. In 1786 the naturalist Georg Forster gave the plant its scientific name, which means “intoxicating pepper”.

Kava is first of all a drink of meeting, respect and togetherness. A kava ceremony confirms rank and relationships, welcomes guests, makes peace and marks important moments.

In Fiji, a visitor arriving in a village brings kava as a gift, the sevusevu, to be welcomed. In Samoa and Tonga the ʻava ceremony is a solemn ritual, with fixed roles, words and order of drinking.

Kava connects people with their ancestors and with each other. Drinking happens calmly, in conversation, and the drink gives a calm, relaxed feeling without drunkenness.

Knowledge about kava lies with the community: how to grow the plant, when to harvest, how to prepare the drink and which words and gestures belong to the ceremony.

In Vanuatu the nakamal is the place where men drink kava. There are dozens of varieties, and farmers know their properties precisely.

Since the Kava Act of 2002 Vanuatu has ensured that only the “noble” varieties are sold and exported. These give a more pleasant effect and fewer side effects than the so-called tudei kava.

The knowledge is oral. Important descriptions from outside come from the travel accounts of James Cook and Georg Forster in the eighteenth century.

A standard work is Kava: The Pacific Drug by Vincent Lebot, Mark Merlin and Lamont Lindstrom from 1992, on the botany, history and culture of kava.

Vanuatu’s Kava Act of 2002 is an important example of how a country protects its own plant.

Kava is still drunk daily in the Pacific, at ceremonies and informally. It is an important export product for Vanuatu, Fiji and other countries.

In 2002 Germany banned kava after reports of liver damage from the use of kava extracts. In 2014 a German court overturned that ban. Researchers think the problems came mainly from using the wrong varieties and parts of the plant.

Kava bars have sprung up in the United States and Australia, and kava is also on sale in the Netherlands.

Kava is grown from cuttings, not from seed. After a few years the root is harvested.

The root is pounded or ground, in the past also chewed, and mixed with water and strained. The active substances are called kavalactones.

Only the root is used. Leaves and stems contain other substances and do not belong in the drink.

Kava is a sacred and social drink. Take part with respect if you are invited, and follow your host’s customs.

With heavy use kava can cause liver damage, skin complaints and tiredness. Do not combine it with alcohol, sleeping pills or other medicines, and do not use it with liver disease, in pregnancy or while breastfeeding.