Kava Research Vanuatu cultivars, popularity by region. (1980s)

[sɥɐʞɐs]

In some of Dr. Lebot's older research, they surveyed the islands to estimate the number of kava plants grown and which cultivars were most planted. The biggest kava growing regions were Pentecost & Tanna, although Tongoa produces a huge amount considering it's small size. Here are the results:

 

[kastom_lif]

Nice information. Kava the Pacific Elixir (1992) lists the very same data. The source is cited as Lebot, V. and R. Brunton, 1985, Tropical plants as cash crops: A survey of kava in Vanuatu. Port Vila: Vanuatu Government Department of Agriculture.

 

[nabanga]

Nice information. Kava the Pacific Elixir (1992) lists the very same data. The source is cited as Lebot, V. and R. Brunton, 1985, Tropical plants as cash crops: A survey of kava in Vanuatu. Port Vila: Vanuatu Government Department of Agriculture.

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I worked on tongoa once...only island where the women chew the kava ( but don't join in drinking). I was with the now deceased MP Robert Karie, nice guy, and he got his 20- something nieces to chew whilst we finished some water surveys. Nobody knows how the practice started ( it is not done on any of the other Shepherd islands)

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[kasa_balavu]

I worked on tongoa once...only island where the women chew the kava ( but don't join in drinking). I was with the now deceased MP Robert Karie, nice guy, and he got his 20- something nieces to chew whilst we finished some water surveys. Nobody knows how the practice started ( it is not done on any of the other Shepherd islands)

Do you know if this is still practiced there?

 

[Zac Imiola (Herbalist)]

I wonder what the secondary names on borogu mean and what the difference in effects are

 

[kastom_lif]

I am surprised Kelai isnt listed!

Epi has somewhere from 6 to 9 languages, depending on how you classify them. Kelai might be known as something else on other parts of Epi.

For instance, on Pentecost, gorogoro (Sa language), borogu (Apma language) and borongoru/boroguru (Raga langugage) are cognates. Barring local mutations, they are probably all the same cultivar. Likewise, the "Pentecost" grown on Tanna is surely named after a popular Pentecost kava. And I would not be too surprised if "Vila" as grown in Southern Vanuatu is the same thing as "Smol Han" on Efate... which is none other than the famous puariki of the Shepherds known by another name.

This PHAMA document
http://phama.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Vanuatu_Quality_Standard_ecopy.pdf

shows that kelai is also known as miaome. Mia and miau are the generic words for "kava" in Lamenu and Lewo, respectively. Lamenu is spoken on the very northern tip of Epi. Lewo stretches along the entire long coast that faces Paama and Lopevi. "Mel" is another very common cognate for generic kava, so "miaomwe" might even be a combination of several common words for kava from neighboring languages.

 

[fait]

Epi has somewhere from 6 to 9 languages, depending on how you classify them. Kelai might be known as something else on other parts of Epi.

For instance, on Pentecost, gorogoro (Sa language), borogu (Apma language) and borongoru/boroguru (Raga langugage) are cognates. Barring local mutations, they are probably all the same cultivar. Likewise, the "Pentecost" grown on Tanna is surely named after a popular Pentecost kava. And I would not be too surprised if "Vila" as grown in Southern Vanuatu is the same thing as "Smol Han" on Efate... which is none other than the famous puariki of the Shepherds known by another name.

This PHAMA document
http://phama.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Vanuatu_Quality_Standard_ecopy.pdf

shows that kelai is also known as miaome. Mia and miau are the generic words for "kava" in Lamenu and Lewo, respectively. Lamenu is spoken on the very northern tip of Epi. Lewo stretches along the entire long coast that faces Paama and Lopevi. "Mel" is another very common cognate for generic kava, so "miaomwe" might even be a combination of several common words for kava from neighboring languages.

I suspected this when I checked the list. A lot of words looked similar and I figure even if only similarly-named varieties are the same variety said in a different language, that's still a fair number of varieties. As it is, it sounds like completely unrelated names could refer to the same variety, but for census purposes, they decided to go by how the locals judged and called varieties. I'm sure there are so many botanists among the ni-Van to go around to every field and check out the kava being grown. And I don't blame the locals for not wanting to share! It's a common rule for anything to "keep the good stuff for themselves."

 

[nabanga]

Do you know if this is still practiced there?

@kasa_balavu Not fully sure if it is still common now, as my last trip to Tongoa was over 20 years ago - but things change slowly in the islands outside of Efate so I would guess female mastication is still going strong.

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[kastom_lif]

Great info, thanks.

You really think smol han is simply a different name for puariki? Ive tried both and thought they were very different, but they were also grown processed by different guys

Ooops! You are right @Henry. I goofed. According to Lebot's old surveys, puariki is a dead ringer for the Efate cultivar known as big hand. Small hand is something else.

Here's part of the chemotype/morphotype appendix from "Kava the Pacific Elixir"

It looks like nearly the same cultivar is even grown way down on Aneityum, where the local name seems to be "riki." That cultivar has got legs!

 

[kastom_lif]

I suspected this when I checked the list. A lot of words looked similar and I figure even if only similarly-named varieties are the same variety said in a different language, that's still a fair number of varieties. As it is, it sounds like completely unrelated names could refer to the same variety, but for census purposes, they decided to go by how the locals judged and called varieties. I'm sure there are so many botanists among the ni-Van to go around to every field and check out the kava being grown. And I don't blame the locals for not wanting to share! It's a common rule for anything to "keep the good stuff for themselves."

Plus, there may be similar words for completely different cultivars. It takes somebody with more botanical skills than me to study plants and test (and taste) them to make a thorough survey.

"Kava the Pacific Elixir" has a list of the generic word for kava in various languages. The variety even for the generic word is impressive.

The book goes by Tryon's 1976 names for some languages, and in other cases it only names a location such as a river or village. So where it was clear, I've substituted the modern names for languages per Glottolog, Ethnologue, and François' more recent fieldwork. Where uncertain, I've omitted a few words. Anyhow, here's a big list of ways to say kava in Vanuatu, taken from "Kava the Pacific Elixir"

language - generic word for kava

Torba province
Hiw - nigui
Löyöp - nga
Motlav - naga
Vera'a - gwie
Mwerlav - malop

Penama province
Sungwadia - maloku
Raga - maloku
Apma - sini
Sa - mele
West Ambae - amaloku
East Ambae - maloku

Sanma province
Butmas-Tur - bir
Wusi - malohu
Tolomako - naxai
Akei - malou
Malo - hae

Malampa province
Vao - malok
Wala - nem leu
Atchin - melo
Uripiv - melu
Big Nambas / V'ənen Taut - malox
SW coastal Malekula? - nimvulum
Port Sandwich - mah
Banam Bay - namonggomongg
Mbwenelang - manggiongg
North Ambrym - lewewe ndrame
North Paama - vatimeai
South Paama - malou

Shefa province
Lewo - miau
Lamenu - mia
Bieria - mak/malk
Baki - mio
Namakura - malok
Emae - namaloku
Nakanamanga - namaloku
South Efate - nmalok

Tafea province
Erromango - naghave
SW Tanna, middle bush - nikava
Aniwa - kava
Futuna - kava
Aneityum - kava

And that list barely scratches the surface. Just look at Alex François' map... (source http://alex.francois.free.fr/img/Francois-et-al_2015_Vanuatu-languages.png)