This traveler and cave explorer tells the story in National Geographic Travel of how before he was permitted to visit Fiji’s largest cave system only after taking part in kava ceremony involving the village priest. Similarly, it is not uncommon for a visitor to be required to drink kava with village elders before doing business with the community. Bula is a Fijian word that translates as a toast or wishing of happiness and good health.Īlso, according to tradition, any individual visiting a Fijian village has to give a gift of kava to the head of that village. The ritual requires the Chief and every subsequent person to clap once before and 3 times after drinking, many times cheering “Bula!” before a shell. The first person to take a drink of the kava from the ceremonial bowl will be the Chief or most senior person in the group. At a Fijian kava ceremony or Sevusevu, the drink is prepared at the start of the ceremony and not in advance. In Fiji, yaqona (kava) is the official national drink.

Later, Prince Harry watched with interest a demonstration of kava production when he visited the Colo-I-Suva Forest reserve, just outside the Fiji capital of Suva. His son, Prince Harry, also sipped kava during an official visit to Fiji with his new American wife Megan Merkel in 2018. The prince drank from a cup of very special kava, known as Royal Kava that is reserved for such occasions and was last consumed when his father, the Duke of Edinburgh, visited in 1974. In 2018 the inauguration of Britain’s Prince Charles as an honorary high chief in Vanuatu included a kava ceremony. These long-standing cultural traditions continue to this day. Commonly, the first to receive the cup will be the Chief or highest-ranking individual and the cup will pass through the group, in descending order based on rank. The drink is often served to the individuals participating in the ceremony in a half coconut cup or bilo (Fiji) from a traditional, carved wooden bowl called a tanoa (Fiji) also known as a kumete (Tonga). There is a traditional method of easy kava preparation in the Pacific Islands. While kava ceremonies may differ slightly depending on the island, there are many similarities. In Tonga, the installment of the king or a Noble title is not complete until a kava ceremony is conducted. The installation of a new village Chief, agreements between communities, or the welcoming of an important visitor will always include a kava ceremony. Throughout the region, kava drinking has been part of prestigious ceremonial occasions since ancient times.

Awa drink hawaii