Kava for resolving conflicts.
Kava, Piper methysticum, has been used for many different reasons across the millennia and Pacific ocean. It was and continues to be a major part of religious, political, and social activities among those cultures of the Pacific, today. In Tonga, the institution of kava practice included values of dedication, sacrifice, responsibility, and conflict resolution (Tecun, Reeves, and Wolfgramm 2020). Kava has been known by Pacifikans as a relaxant and social lubricant. Kava is used in both festive ceremonial events, and daily secular social life. It’s used in events such as electing a new chief, marriage and death ceremonies and important meetings locally all the way to the national level (Sofer 2007). Conflict resolution is an important part of life in Fiji. Yaqona ceremonies often consume half of the day if not more before touching the important issues. The kava ceremony guarantees a platform and a body where opponents can talk in a modest atmosphere and settle situations without “losing their temper”(Mückler, n.d.). In Fiji, in personal conflict resolution, an offender presents kava to the person he or she has harmed, and the result is to restore normal relations between them (Arno 1976). Kava’s effects play into this atmosphere as being soporific. It numbs the drinker and promotes feelings of sociability (Tomlinson 2004). Unlike with alcohol, kava drinkers do not become angry, irritated, or noisy. They typically demonstrated calmness, harmony, joy, friendliness, and sociability. (Volgin et al. 2020) In 1937 kava’s effects were described as “You feel friendly...never cross...you cannot hate with kava in you” (Harrison 1937). Kava is a universal equalizer in conflict resolution. Scores of generations before us have made good use of this plant to further discourse and find peaceful resolution between parties. In this current interpersonal climate, I sincerely hope we in the west can respect kava enough to find these same special functions socially.
Arno, Andrew. 1976. “Ritual of Reconciliation and Village Conflict Management in Fiji.” Oceania; a Journal Devoted to the Study of the Native Peoples of Australia, New Guinea, and the Islands of the Pacific 47 (1): 49–65.
Harrison, Tom. 1937. “Savage Civilisation.” Nature 139 (3518): 568–69.
Mückler, Hermann. n.d. “Chiefs, Coups and Kava: Conflicts and Conflict Resolution in Fiji.”
Sofer, Michael. 2007. “Yaqona and the Fijian Periphery Revisited.” Asia Pacific Viewpoint 48 (2): 234–49.
Tecun, Arcia, Robert Reeves, and Marlena Wolfgramm. 2020. “The Past Before Us: A Brief History of Tongan Kava.” The Journal of the Polynesian Society. Polynesian Society 129 (2): 171–92.
Tomlinson, Matt. 2004. “Perpetual Lament: Kava-Drinking, Christianity and Sensations of Historical Decline in Fiji.” The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 10 (3): 653–73.
Volgin, Andrey, Longen Yang, Tamara Amstislavskaya, Konstantin Demin, Dongmei Wang, Dongni Yan, Jingtao Wang, et al. 2020. “DARK Classics in Chemical Neuroscience: Kava.” ACS Chemical Neuroscience, January. https://doi.org/10.1021/acschemneuro.9b00587.
Kava, Piper methysticum, has been used for many different reasons across the millennia and Pacific ocean. It was and continues to be a major part of religious, political, and social activities among those cultures of the Pacific, today. In Tonga, the institution of kava practice included values of dedication, sacrifice, responsibility, and conflict resolution (Tecun, Reeves, and Wolfgramm 2020). Kava has been known by Pacifikans as a relaxant and social lubricant. Kava is used in both festive ceremonial events, and daily secular social life. It’s used in events such as electing a new chief, marriage and death ceremonies and important meetings locally all the way to the national level (Sofer 2007). Conflict resolution is an important part of life in Fiji. Yaqona ceremonies often consume half of the day if not more before touching the important issues. The kava ceremony guarantees a platform and a body where opponents can talk in a modest atmosphere and settle situations without “losing their temper”(Mückler, n.d.). In Fiji, in personal conflict resolution, an offender presents kava to the person he or she has harmed, and the result is to restore normal relations between them (Arno 1976). Kava’s effects play into this atmosphere as being soporific. It numbs the drinker and promotes feelings of sociability (Tomlinson 2004). Unlike with alcohol, kava drinkers do not become angry, irritated, or noisy. They typically demonstrated calmness, harmony, joy, friendliness, and sociability. (Volgin et al. 2020) In 1937 kava’s effects were described as “You feel friendly...never cross...you cannot hate with kava in you” (Harrison 1937). Kava is a universal equalizer in conflict resolution. Scores of generations before us have made good use of this plant to further discourse and find peaceful resolution between parties. In this current interpersonal climate, I sincerely hope we in the west can respect kava enough to find these same special functions socially.
Arno, Andrew. 1976. “Ritual of Reconciliation and Village Conflict Management in Fiji.” Oceania; a Journal Devoted to the Study of the Native Peoples of Australia, New Guinea, and the Islands of the Pacific 47 (1): 49–65.
Harrison, Tom. 1937. “Savage Civilisation.” Nature 139 (3518): 568–69.
Mückler, Hermann. n.d. “Chiefs, Coups and Kava: Conflicts and Conflict Resolution in Fiji.”
Sofer, Michael. 2007. “Yaqona and the Fijian Periphery Revisited.” Asia Pacific Viewpoint 48 (2): 234–49.
Tecun, Arcia, Robert Reeves, and Marlena Wolfgramm. 2020. “The Past Before Us: A Brief History of Tongan Kava.” The Journal of the Polynesian Society. Polynesian Society 129 (2): 171–92.
Tomlinson, Matt. 2004. “Perpetual Lament: Kava-Drinking, Christianity and Sensations of Historical Decline in Fiji.” The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 10 (3): 653–73.
Volgin, Andrey, Longen Yang, Tamara Amstislavskaya, Konstantin Demin, Dongmei Wang, Dongni Yan, Jingtao Wang, et al. 2020. “DARK Classics in Chemical Neuroscience: Kava.” ACS Chemical Neuroscience, January. https://doi.org/10.1021/acschemneuro.9b00587.
