De-mythologizing and re-branding the traditional drink kava

Abstract

Kava, a plant lacking seeds or a means to self-propagate, is believed to have first originated in Northern Vanuatu thousands of years ago. Those origins add to kava’s spiritual significance and recognition as a ‘plant of the gods’. For instance, ‘who else other than the Pacific ancestral gods would have planted and tended kava until the arrival of the first indigenous explorers into the Pacific around 2500 years ago?’; a people who then spread kava throughout the region along migration trade routes. Used in traditional medicine, its roots are also ground and steeped in water to make a drink which continues to be used by Pacific peoples today to infuse spiritual power into ceremony and significant life events, and to facilitate discussion and socialisation.