Kava Culture

Palau and Kava Rounding out our Kava-eye view of Micronesia is Palau.  Palau, like many of these small island nations, has an interesting history.  Palau also has a more traditional relationship with kava (which gives here a great relief).  Let’s look at Palau today and the events that brought this young nation into being. Palau […]

French Polynesia and Kava In this article, we explore the connection between French Polynesia and kava as we journey through the third and final region of Oceania, Polynesia. Our first stop on this Polynesian tour is none other than the regional namesake, French Polynesia. French Polynesia To begin with, French Polynesia is a French overseas […]

Nauru and Kava Nauru, like many of its Micronesia neighbors, has an unusual relationship with Kava.  Beyond its relationship to Kava, many environmentalists look to Nauru as a test case for natural resource management (or, more specifically, mismanagement).  Before we get to that, let’s take a look at Nauru’s unique history and how they came […]

The Mariana Islands and Kava Next up in the Micronesia Region of Oceania are the Mariana Islands.  The Mariana Islands have a complex history of foreign rule.  And due to their climate, the islands and its people almost surely a long history with kava-but clues to the latter are sparse.  Before we get to that, […]

Kiribati and Kava Next up on our tour of the Micronesian region of the Pacific is Kiribati.  Kiribati has a very recent, but very strong relationship with our favorite beverage kava.  Before we get to that, let’s look at the Kiribati today and how it came to be. Kiribati The island nation of Kiribati-officially known […]

Federated States of Micronesia and Kava Leaving the Melanesian region of Oceania, our first stop on our Kava-centric geographical tour of Micronesia will be the Federated States of Micronesia.  Although Kava use varies by region in this archipelago, the island chain has an interesting culture and history, regardless of its Kava consumption. Federated States of […]

Vanuatu and Kava Rounding out the Melanesian region of Oceania is the island nation of Vanuatu.  Vanuatu is one of the most interesting, diverse and mysterious of all the Melanesian archipelagos in relation to culture and their use of Kava-as we shall see below. Vanuatu Itself The island nation of Vanuatu, or officially the Republic […]

New Guinea and Kava New Guinea and kava have a long and rich history that sets the Oceanic people of New Guinea apart from their Melanesian neighbors. Before we delve deeper into this fascinating connection, let’s take a look at New Guinea today. New Guinea Splitting off from Australia during the last glacial period during […]

Solomon Islands and Kava The Solomon Islands, much like the New Caledonian cousins, have a mysterious and interesting relationship with kava.  But before we get to that, let’s look at the Solomon Islands as they are today. The Solomon Islands The island nation of The Solomon Islands is located at a longitude of a 160 […]