Arriving as a Canoe Plant
Polynesian settlers brought kava to Hawaii roughly 1,500 to 1,600 years ago, choosing it as one of a small set of "canoe plants," essential crops carried deliberately across the Pacific by voyaging ancestors, alongside taro (kalo) and breadfruit ('ulu). In Hawaiian tradition, the plant is associated with the gods Kāne and Kanaloa, who are said to have planted 'awa throughout the islands. The Hawaiian word 'awa means "bitter," a fairly direct description of the root's taste.
Who Drank Awa, and Why
Traditional use in Hawaii varied by social class. The ali'i (chiefs) drank awa for pleasure and status, the kahuna (priest class) used it for ceremonial purposes, and working people drank it to relax after physical labour. Awa also held a central place as an herbal medicine, used for a wide range of ailments, and was offered in prayer for specific purposes: farmers offering it for a good harvest, canoe makers offering it when selecting a koa log.
Decline and Suppression
Like kava traditions elsewhere in the Pacific, awa use in Hawaii was suppressed during colonization, missionaries discouraged it alongside other traditional practices. The decline accelerated further after the 1891 death of King David Kalākaua, Hawaii's last king, and the loss of Hawaiian sovereignty that followed, which pushed much traditional Hawaiian herbal medicine, lā'au lapa'au, underground for roughly a century.
The Modern Revival
Awa's resurgence is tied closely to the broader Hawaiian cultural renaissance that began in the 1970s. In the 1980s, a small group of elder lā'au lapa'au practitioners, including figures like "Uncle" Harry Mitchell and "Papa" Kawika Ka'alakea on Maui, began deliberately teaching traditional healing knowledge to prevent it from being lost. The University of Hawaii established a research program studying awa's medicinal properties in 1992, and interest has continued to grow since, both in cultural and commercial contexts, with awa now grown at farms across the islands and served at kava bars alongside its ceremonial and medicinal uses.
