Tongan kava ceremonies are a variety of ceremonies involving the kava plant that play an integral part of Tongan society and governance. They play a role in strengthening cultural values and principles, solidifying traditional ideals of duty and reciprocity, reaffirming societal structures, and entrenching the practice of (lit. "tightly holding onto the land"), a Tongan cultural ideal to maintain, preserve, and live traditional Tongan culture. Tongan kava ceremonies continue to permeate Tongan society both in Tonga and the diaspora. They range in formality from informal faikava or kava "parties" to the highly stratified, ancient, and ritualized , or Royal Kava Ceremony.
Etymology The name of the kava plant is said to derive from , the name of a girl who was sacrificed by her parents in Tongan mythology. From her grave, the kava and (sugarcane) plants miraculously sprouted.
Kava is used throughout Oceania, especially Polynesia. Names for the kava plant include , , or , ,Balick, Michael J. and Leem, Roberta (2002) Traditional use of sakau (kava) in Pohnpei: lessons for integrative medicine Alternative Therapies, Vol. 8, No.4. p. 96 , and malok or malogu (parts of Vanuatu). The various words for kava in many Polynesian languages mean sour, bitter, or poisonous.
In Tongan society, there are registers of language used when referring to different levels of society. The highest register is used when speaking about the King and God; the next register is used when speaking about the nobility, such as the King's household and chiefs of the realm; and the lowest register is used when speaking about commoners, or . The term used for a kava ceremony conveys information about the social makeup of the ceremony or the environment in which kava is being used. Any kava ceremony where the King of Tonga is present is called (lit. "to eat kava"). In the common register, the kava ceremony is called or ("to do kava"); this often takes place in Tongan kava social clubs, and nearly anyone in the Tongan social strata can take part.
Origin of kava
Tongan beliefs regarding the origins of kava are dominated by the tala tupuʻa (traditional oral account) as told by the late Queen Sālote Tupou III and as found in the historical records of venerated Tongan historian Masiu Moala, as well as the student informational book compiled by the Siasi Uesiliana Tauʻatāina ʻo Tonga (Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga). The most popularly accepted account of kava's origins tells of a poor couple, Fevanga (father) and Fefafa (mother), and their leprous daughter, Kava’onau, who is sacrificed to the then Tuʻi Tonga; from her grave sprouts the kava and tō (sugarcane). However, there are other accounts of kava's usage by Tongans and deified ancestors that predate the Kavaʻonau story.
Kava in Pulotu One of the many stories of kava's use is found in the account given to Fison by the then Tui Lau, Enele Maʻafu, son of former Tuʻi Kanokupolu Aleamotuʻa. Maʻafu was a self-made Fijian chief living in the Lau Islands in south-western Fiji. In this story, Maʻafu relates the frequent use of kava by the great gods in Pulotu. He recounts to Fison how Hikuleʻo, Māui, and Tangaloa, three of the great ancestor gods of the Tongan pantheon, indulged in kava for relaxation purposes, for competition, and in the case of one of the Māuis, as a peace offering to his father, Māui-Motuʻa. However, this account does not detail kava's use in a ceremonial fashion such as in the Taumafa Kava or other instances of installing chiefs. Other accounts of kava usage in Pulotu can be found in the work done by Gifford on Tongan society.
ʻAhoʻeitu: First Tuʻi Tonga Kava also plays a very important role in the origin story of the Tuʻi Tonga Empire line of kings, Tonga's first and most sacred line that is said to have controlled a vast Oceanic empire. The Tuʻi Tonga line is the progenitor of most Tongan chiefly and noble titles, and even the current ruling House of Tupou can trace their lineage to this senior line.
In short, a half-human (by his mother 'Ilaheva) and half-god man named ʻAhoʻeitu ascended a great toa tree in search of his father, one of the great sky-gods, Tangaloa ʻEitumātupuʻa. In his search, he happened upon Tangaloa, and it is said that he partook of kava with Tangaloa. During his stay in langi, the abode of Tangaloa—which many researchers claim is the sky or even Manuʻa, Samoa—ʻAhoʻeitu met and bested his five older brothers in an array of sports. ʻAhoʻeitu immediately became the favourite amongst his siblings; out of jealousy, his older brothers led by the eldest, Talafale, killed ʻAhoʻeitu, throwing his head into a hoi bush and disposing of the body by eating it.
After searching for ʻAhoʻeitu, Tangaloa ʻEitumātupuʻa inquired of his five sons. He knew what they had done and commanded that a great tānoʻa or kumete (kava bowl) be brought to him, in which he commanded the five to throw up the remains of ʻAhoʻeitu. After they had done so, Tangaloa ʻEitumātupuʻa covered the kava bowl with leaves of the nonu (noni) tree, and ʻAhoʻeitu was miraculously brought back to life. It was proclaimed by Tangaloa ʻEitumātupuʻa that ʻAhoʻeitu would return to maama (the world and Tonga) to become the Tuʻi Tonga, paramount chief and king of Tonga, and his five older brothers would go with him to serve their younger brother and protect him. The eldest of the five, Talafale, became Tuʻi Faleua ("King of the Second House"); if ever ʻAhoʻeitu's line should die out, Talafale and his descendants would then rule. Today the Tuʻipelehake title is the line descended from Talafale. The other four brothers became the heads of the kau Falefā (the Four Houses), tasked with specific duties in protecting and providing for ʻAhoʻeitu and the Tuʻi Tonga line.
Many scholars, traditional Tongan chiefs, and kakai ʻilo (those with special knowledge) disagree on many of the details relating to the rise of ʻAhoʻeitu. However, most agree upon the use of kava in the installation of ʻAhoʻeitu as the Tuʻi Tonga. Viliami Tolutaʻu, a professor of sculpture at Brigham Young University–Hawaii and artist of the ʻAhoʻeitu statue that fronts the new St. George government building in Tonga, was adamant in an interview on the Radio-Tonga-Hawaiʻi Vākē-Tali-Folau programme that to truly understand Tongan tala tupuʻa, there needs to be an understanding of Tongan heliaki (metaphorical language), similar to Hawaiian kaona.Toluta‘u, Viliami ‘Asipeli. "Hikusila ‘o e Talafa’unga". Radio Tonga - Hawai‘i, Vake-Tali-Folau. By Siuaki Livai. Facebook.com, August 20, 2019. https://www.facebook.com/1128804640597707/videos/408840423085307/?q=hikusila&epa=SEARCH_BOX The kava bowl commanded by Tangaloa is the beginning of the ceremony at which the five elder siblings, bested by ʻAhoʻeitu and favoured by Tangaloa, will be installed as the servants of the ruler of Tonga, the Tuʻi Tonga. Traditionally kava was chewed (mama) before it was mixed and strained into the drink. In the tale of ʻAhoʻeitu, there is heliaki about the elder siblings "eating" their brother and throwing up his body into the tānoʻa (kava bowl). This is heliaki speech for their obeisance to the new paramount chief, whom they recognize as being higher, as they must descend below in status to chew his kava and eventually descend from their father's abode to serve their younger brother.
Kavaʻonau The most popular story about kava's origins is that of Fevanga and Fefafa and their daughter Kavaʻonau. In short, an elderly couple lived on the island of ‘Eueiki during a time of great famine with their daughter Kavaʻonau. Tradition states she was stricken with leprosy. One day a great chief—many scholars cite it was the 10th Tuʻi Tonga, Momo—and his entourage, after spending time at sea fishing and competing with each other, decided to rest on ‘Eueiki. Somehow the old couple heard of the coming of the King and immediately took to preparing the proper food presentations. However, as it was a time of famine, the couple had only one kape plant (giant taro); as Fefafa went to get the kape to be cooked in the ʻumu (earth oven), she found the King resting under its shade. Sorrowful that there was no other worthy meal on the island, the old couple, out of duty and love for their King, decided to sacrifice their daughter as tribute.
The warriors and people that had come with the King found out what was transpiring and immediately told the King, who, out of sadness and regret, ordered the party to depart the island, leaving the girl in her ʻumu grave. After some time, the old couple found two plants had grown from their daughter's grave: at the head the kava plant and at the feet the tō (sugarcane). As the plants grew, the couple noticed a mouse chewing at the kava became inebriated, whereas when it ate of the tō it became energized and scurried away. One day the great tufunga fonua (carpenter of the land), the chief Lōʻau, visited the island, and the couple told him of the plants. Lōʻau told them to immediately take the plants to the compound of the Tuʻi Tonga, where it is said that Lōʻau then presented these plants, told him of their properties, and instituted the kava ceremony. The ceremony was to memorialize the sacrifice of the child and the parents for their King and his hosts, whereas the King's partaking of the kava would be acceptance of his duties to care for and lead his people.
Some accounts vary as to the details, but this story is cited and known by most Tongans and is the foundation by which many cite the importance of the kava plant and its function in ceremony. Scholars such as renowned Tongan scholar Futa Helu state: "I tend to believe that the kava was originally employed as part of the ancient religion. Then it was socialized to keep order in society, but the myth of the kava seems to point to healing religious practices. It seems to me that human sacrifice was fairly common in ancient times. Perhaps in Tonga or in other parts of Polynesia, and the kava was developed to crowd it out. Yes, it has become the great metaphor of our society, the kava." Mele Ongaʻalupe Taumoepeau, a respected educator and Tongan scholar, says that the kava represents "sacrifice, respect, loyalty to the land, keeping up relations, unity, and giving of one's life." Faivaola Dr Eric B. Shumway, a noted scholar on Tongan culture and history and traditional matāpule (talking chief) of the chief Nuku, produced a film called Kava Kuo Heka in which the importance, history, and usage of the Royal Kava Ceremony is detailed.
Scientific origins of kava Kava scholar and Fijian anthropologist S. Apo Aporosa writes: "Archaeologists, linguists and botanists believe kava originated in northern Vanuatu approximately 3000 years ago". It is thought that the spread of kava followed early migrational trade routes as far west as Papua New Guinea, to Hawaii in the east, and New Zealand in the south, where it failed to grow. As Lebot and Levesque (1989) explain: "for kava, dispersal of vegetative propagules by wind or bird is impossible, [and] the plant therefore owes its survival entirely to human distribution of stem cuttings" (234). Together with kava's use in indigenous medicine, the plant in both its raw and drinkable form plays significant roles in traditional practice, being widely used to mark life events from birth to death. In a number of the island nations such as Pohnpei (Micronesia), Vanuatu, Fiji, Tonga, and Samoa, much of that traditional use remains, whereas in other areas such as Te Au Maohi (the greater Rarotongan island group), French Polynesia, and Hawaii, colonial contact and missionization saw kava use reduced and in some cases eliminated altogether.
Taumafa Kava: Tongan Royal Kava Ceremony