The Origin of Kava

The Origin of Kava

(A Legend from Tonga)

The chief called Loau, down in Tongatapu, had an attendant whose name was Fevanga and whose home was on the island of Eueiki. After being the chief’s attendant for a time Fevanga returned to live at Eueiki with his wife Fefafa and their daughter who was leprous. Fevanga often visited Loau, and one day he begged that chief to sail across to Eueiki and visit him.

Now the time when Loau chose to visit Fevanga was a time of great scarcity on Eueiki. The gods in their anger had blown a thousand coconut trees upon their sides and spoiled the taro plots, there was no good food left. All that remained on Fevanga's land was one big kape plant, growing near his house. That bitter kape root was all that Fevanga had to offer to his guest.

When Loau arrived, Fevanga came down to greet his visitors and they answered saying, 'Happy to see you in good health in this land.’ Then Loau's party pulled up his canoe into the shade. They laid it near Fevanga's house with its outrigger against the kape. And Fevanga and Fefafa began to prepare their oven, whispering how they might dig up the kape without being impolite to Loau. For Loau also was seated near that plant, and they wished very much to get it without disturbing him. Therefore they asked Loau to go inside their small house, and he did so since they said it would be cooler there. To please them that chief went inside.

Then Fevanga and Fefafa dug up the kape and made it ready for the oven. But there was no fowl or pig to be a relish with it, therefore Fevanga with a club killed his leprous daughter Kavaonau and they made good food for Loau.

 And the food was cooked and they brought it front the oven and put it before the chief, and he thanked them for their kindness, but he asked them, ‘Why have you destroyed your child?‘

Then Loau told them to take that food away. He told them that they must bury her head in one place and her body in another, and he said, ‘You must watch them carefully.’ After this they made their farewells and Loau returned in his canoe to Tongatapu.

For five nights Fevanga and Fefafa kept visiting the grave of their daughter, and after five nights there was growing from her head a kava plant, and from her guts there grew a sugar cane. That kava grew large, and the cane grew also.

One day when they were almost fully grown Fevanga saw a rat gnawing at the kava plant. That rat became silly, and could not move. Then it gnawed the sugar cane, and it recovered and ran about. This thing it did repeatedly; this is how the people of Tongatapu here learned that sugar cane is to be eaten when kava is drunk.

Then the plants grew large, they were fully ripe, and Fevanga and Fefafa dug them up and brought them here to Loau. And Loau laughed, and he cried out:

‘Chewing kava, a leprous child of Fevanga and Fefafa in Eueiki! Bring some coconut-husk to strain it, bring a bowl to hold it, bring a person to make the kava, bring someone for the bowl to be turned toward!’

Therefore this was done, the kava was split up and chewed by persons sitting on that side of the bowl where common persons sit; and the kava was strained and served to those of rank and all was done correctly.

Kava

This is the origin of kava. The shoots of the plant when they grow become grey and scaly because of that daughter who was leprous.

Source:

Legends of the South Seas

Antony Alpers

1970

Pages: 271-272