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Kava History Where did Kava Originate?

Kavaloloko

Kavaloloko Kava Co.
Kava Vendor
The other night we had a Kava session.. Had friends over from Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Vanuatu, Hawaii, Samoa, Micronesia, and of Course Tonga..
We Had a debate on where Kava Originated from & it lasted for most of the night!

So, us Tongans believe that Kava was first discovered in Tonga.. Do we know this for sure? No. lol
But the only thing I can think of to back this up is the term "Kava". Which all islanders know this is a Tongan term.
The Piper Methysticum plant is known to the world as Kava.

Kava in Vanuatu is Malogu or Malok
Kava in Fiji is Yaqona
Kava in Samoa is Ava
Kava in Hawaii is Awa
Kava in Micronesia is Sakau
Kava in Tonga is Kava..

Any thoughts?:unsure:
 

kasa_balavu

Yaqona Dina
As Kapm said, kava was first bred by the people of northern Vanuatu. From there it was taken east to Fiji and onwards by Polynesians.

Piper Methysticum was first recorded for science by George Forster, who was a 17yr old who travelled with his father Reinhold Forster (the expedition naturalist) on Captain Cook's second voyage. Perhaps he first saw it in Tonga, where it was called kava. That would explain why the english name for the plant is the Tongan name for the plant. Had Forster first seen it in Fiji, the english name for the plant might have been yangona or some other misspelling of yaqona.
 

nabanga

Kava Enthusiast
Vanuatu has around 220 languages, so malok and malogu will be specific to fairly small geographical areas.
I had thought that Tonga was originally populated by the Lapita people who came from the Bismarcks in PNG, through Solomons and Vanuatu and eastward to Tonga, Fiji & Samoa, bringing the root with them from Vanuatu.
 

kasa_balavu

Yaqona Dina
The name for kava in Pohnpei is sakau.
I recently learned that Sakau is the name of a people and language on Santo in Vanuatu.

Do any of Lebot's works shed light on the etymology of the Pohnpeian sakau?
 

kastom_lif

Kava Lover
The name for kava in Pohnpei is sakau.
I recently learned that Sakau is the name of a people and language on Santo in Vanuatu.

Do any of Lebot's works shed light on the etymology of the Pohnpeian sakau?
I'm pretty sure sakau simply means "bitter" in Pohnpei language. There's a kava cultivar in PNG called "kau" as well, which might suggest contact between Micronesia and PNG.

As for where Pohnpeian kava cultivars came from botanically, they almost certainly came from Kosrae, and prior to that, perhaps from central Polynesia.
 

Alia

'Awa Grower/Collector
I'm pretty sure sakau simply means "bitter" in Pohnpei language. There's a kava cultivar in PNG called "kau" as well, which might suggest contact between Micronesia and PNG.

As for where Pohnpeian kava cultivars came from botanically, they almost certainly came from Kosrae, and prior to that, perhaps from central Polynesia.
Regarding your, and @kasa_balavu comments, this may help a little, from page 55 of Lebot, et. al. 1992 book--
"Pohnpei and the Admiralty Islands are the only places in the Pacific where kava is prepared by pounding the fresh roots on large, flat basalt slabs. The Pohnpei name for kava, sakau, and the Kosrae word seka both appear cognate with kau on Baluan."
 

Kavaloloko

Kavaloloko Kava Co.
Kava Vendor
Anyone know exactly why the Tongan term was used & is still used over the other islands own term?
 

TheKavaSociety

New Zealand
Kava Vendor
As for the word kava:

"In Polynesia, people also use the word kava and its cognates as adjectives to describe unpleasant flavors of foods and drinks. In the Cook Islands, for example, the word kavakava means “bitter” (Whistler 1990). In Hawai’i and the Marquesas, ‘ova signifies “bitter,” “sour,” “sharp,” and “pungent.” In Tahiti the range of meaning of ‘ova is broader, including “bitter,” “sour,” “acid,” “acrid,” and “pungent” (Churchill 1916b; Petard 1984). A similar semantic pattern occurs in Fiji, where kava is known as yaqona (pronounced yanggona). The word probably derives from *kona, meaning “bitter” (Crowley 1990). Early Polynesians probably borrowed both the plant and the semantic pattern of associating its use with sensations of bitterness, but replaced the Fijian word *kona with their own *kawa. Alternatively, the Fijians may have modified the-Polynesian word *kava or both the Fijians and the Polynesians may have adopted their kava nomenclature from a third source. One indication of antiquity of words is semantic opacity, so a transparency like the extension of a word for bad-tasting to name the beverage can be taken to indicate a comparatively recent act of naming. It might also be supposed that the Polynesian and Fijian terms for kava are younger than some of their linguistically opaque northern Melanesian counterparts. Green has suggested that the Polynesian word kava, like pottery drinking bowls and cups, dates back to the emergence of the Proto-Polynesian language approximately 2800 to 2500 years ago (personal communication, 1990).

If so, then kava’s subsequent northwestward movement along Lapita trade networks might explain scattered reflexes of Proto-Polynesian *kawa in the Admiralties, Micronesia, and mainland New Guinea (Brunton 1989). On Tongoa, for example, a cultivated form of P. wichmannii is called kau. On the island of Baluan in the Admiralties, kava (both P. wichmannii and P. methysticum) is also called kau. Along the Maclay Coast, south of Madang, kava is likewise called keu or kau. Similar linguistic forms exist on the two Micronesian islands where kava is (or was) consumed: on Pohnpei kava is known as sakau, and on Kosrae is called seka (Glassman 1950, 1952). Compared with the linguistic situation in Polynesia, that in Melanesia exhibits a far more complex and more diverse pattern of vernacular kava names. These names, along with practices of kava consumption and cultivation, are very localized. The diversity might be explained in part by the greater availability and suitability of land for kava cultivation on the larger Melanesian islands and by the more pronounced cultural diversity of this region. It might also be explained by the greater antiquity of kava drinking in Melanesia."


Lebot, Vincent; Merlin, Mark; Lindstrom, Lamont. Kava: The Pacific Elixir: The Definitive Guide to Its Ethnobotany, History, and Chemistry (Kindle Locations 526-530). Inner Traditions/Bear & Company. Kindle Edition.
 

Kavaloloko

Kavaloloko Kava Co.
Kava Vendor
Vanuatu has around 220 languages, so malok and malogu will be specific to fairly small geographical areas.
I had thought that Tonga was originally populated by the Lapita people who came from the Bismarcks in PNG, through Solomons and Vanuatu and eastward to Tonga, Fiji & Samoa, bringing the root with them from Vanuatu.
I highly disagree..
 

kasa_balavu

Yaqona Dina
Bro I believe this is the current accepted migration pathway of the early Pacific peoples. If you disagree, I'd love to hear your alternate theory.
 

Kavaloloko

Kavaloloko Kava Co.
Kava Vendor
Bro I believe this is the current accepted migration pathway of the early Pacific peoples. If you disagree, I'd love to hear your alternate theory.
I don't disagree with that. Im disagreeing with them bringing the Kava Root with them to Tonga, Fiji & Samoa
 
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