LISTENING TO THE ANCESTORS: KAVA

Abstract

The peoples of Oceania used various plant-derived drugs, the most widely spread being betel nut and kava. The current evidence is that the kava plant was first domesticated in Vanuatu, where the initial settlers brought with them Lapita traditions and developed a set of practices and beliefs centered on an association between kava and death. Kava was a medium for communication with ancestors as sources of power. At roughly the same time and in the same area a significant change occurred in the meaning of the Proto-Oceanic word mana. Drawing upon ethnology, archaeology, and linguistics, this article examines the origins and spread of this complex of belief and practice.