Kava culture
[7] In 2023, the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code was amended to significantly reduce the legal availability of Kava in Australia; however, despite the Code being designed to apply to both countries, the New Zealand government retains the right to refuse to adopt amendments they disagree with, and they exercised that right in this case, on the grounds that tightening restrictions on Kava interfered with the cultural rights of Pasifika peoples.
[8] In the Cook Islands, the reduplicated forms of kawakawa or kavakava are also applied to the unrelated members of the genus Pittosporum In Fiji, kava (also called "grog" or "yaqona") is drunk at all times of day in both public and private settings.
Kava is a cornerstone of Fijian culture, playing a central role in celebrating various stages of life.
One of its most significant cultural expressions is the Sevusevu, a traditional ceremony in which a visiting guest presents kava to the chief of the host village or tribe.
It was exploited by the Māori based on previous knowledge of the kava, as the latter could not survive in the colder climates of New Zealand.
[12] In Papua New Guinea, the locals in Madang province refer to their kava as waild koniak ("wild cognac" in English).
In pre-European times, the kava was chewed by virgin girls, (marked by caked limestone on their hair), before it was mixed with the water to make the drink.
Samoan kawa is served in a polished coconut half called an ipu tau ‘ava.
If no female touʻa can be found, or it is such a small, very informal gathering, one of the men will do the job of serving the kava root; this is called fakatangata ("all-man").
With the introduction of television, rugby is usually watched by the kava drinkers, and the songs are sung in the commercial breaks.
On Saturday nights, a short pause for prayer is made at midnight as the day moves to Sunday, and then hymns replace the love songs.
A formal kava ceremony is a component of the accession rites for a King of Tonga, who must participate in the pongipongi to make his rule official.
In urban areas of Vanuatu there are large numbers of kava bars, which are open to men and in some cases, women.
In all these venues the emphasis is more on recreational purposes and socializing than on the spiritual or medicinal qualities of kava consumption.
In northern and central Vanuatu, kava roots are traditionally ground using hand-held stone grinders, while in southern Vanuatu the traditional method of preparation involves chewing the roots, then spitting the resulting paste into a container.
Current methods involve preparation in rams (in which kava is pounded in a section of pipe), meat-mincers, and mechanical grinders.
[citation needed] On Survivor: Vanuatu, contestant Chad Crittenden briefly fell ill after drinking a rather potent kava during a native ceremony he attended as a reward.
