Kava is both a plant and a drink made from that plant for ritual occasions. Kava usage is limited mostly to the Pacific basin, where it occurs widely from New Guinea in the west to the Marquesas in the east, and from Hawaii in the north to the southern Cook Islands. Some societies have ceased using it in recent times, whereas others ceased but began again after missionary prohibitions lessened and national independence brought kava to the fore as a mark of national identity (Brunton 1989).

A narcotic effect is commonly thought to be the main reason for kava’s consumption, but elaborate rituals have developed with kava as their centerpiece, together with complex rules about who can drink the substance and when. Powerful cultural elements that persisted into the 1990s led to the commercialization of the root; kava is now drunk by overseas island communities in Auckland, Sydney, Honolulu, and Los Angeles. Indeed it seems that kava has evolved as a major force in the maintenance of the identities of Pacific islanders at home and abroad.

“Kava” is the term for the whole plant, which according to Western botanical terminology, is Piper methysticum, placing it among the pepper families (Lebot, Merlin, and Lindstrom 1992). But “kava” may also refer to the beverage made from the roots or stem of the plant. Moreover, the term can mean a ritual in which the crushing of the root to make the beverage is a noteworthy activity.