September 12, 2023
Vlog 63
Kava is made from the roots and stems of the Yaqona (piper Methysticcum) plant/ shrub. The Yaqona shrub grows and is native to most of the pacific islands. The native people have ground down and pounded kava and mixed it with water for hundreds of years. The bowl the people use is called a Tanoa. The Tanoa is normally made from the Vesi tree's hard wood. The Kava powder is put into a cloth bag and squeezed by hand in the water the Tanoa holds producing the Kava drink or Grog as the locals call it. The Kava is then served to the people using a Bilo, a Bilo is simply a half of a coconut shell. In my experience depending of the size of the coconut shell or the amount in it the serving size can be referred to as Low Tide, High Tide or Tsunami. Kava ceremonys are used to welcome new a new village chief or an important guest/ visitor. Kava is also used for many medicinal reasons including stress, muscle tension and insomnia. Kava ceremonies are ingrained into Fijian culture and are now a part of everyday life for most Fijians. Any person visiting a Fijian village should expect to be required to bring a gift of kava root or at the very least participate in a kava ceremony.
I really enjoyed the Kava ceremonies we were privileged to participate in. In most cases the ceremony was followed by Meke (Fijian live music and dancing). I really loved the way the music sounded and how Kava put everyone in a festive lively mood.
The Koro Sun resort invited a local village's dancers and musicians to join us and share their Meke with us. After they performed several traditional songs and dances for us we were invited to dance with them. The dance resembled more of a Congo line to me and was a great time to meet them and feel like a part of their culture. This was definitely the Largest kava ceremony we witnessed in Fiji.
I am sorry for the quality of these recordings as when I was filming these I really didn't think I would be including these as a stand alone vlog. Once I got home and was going through the footage I realized some of the footage is subpar to my normal style. In the moment I truly was just trying to be respectful to the ceremony, the people participating and the villagers performing. When the view of the dancers or performers was blocked I used a drone video I took to fill in some of the gaps.
Thanks for Watching!
-Jared
17 сен 2024
