Log Date: June 20, 2006

Location: Fijian Kava Ceremony

Sevu Sevu Ceremony  Nabouwalu Bay, Ono FIJI

We arrive on the beach and are greeted by the chief (Dick) and 3 other men.  Two men spoke English fluently; the chief we later realized could understand everything but did not speak much.  It is proper for women to be dressed in a sulu (long skirt) whilst in the village.  Susan and I arrive in shorts planning on putting our sulu on when we got to shore. We were not certain what the beach landing will be like in the dinghy and having a long skirt on could prove to be quite comical.  So here we are greeting the chief in shorts trying to wrap a sulu around our waist in order to be respectful.  No hats, sunglasses or carrying a pack on your back are allowed in the village so all these items were left on the boat.

The chief invited us to his humble abode, which was a short walk through the village. No paved roads and no vehicles on the island. There are about 15 homes with doors; locks and windows yet still no screens for bug control.  We arrive at the chief’s house and are asked to remove our shoes (everywhere in the South Pacific it is a courtesy to remove your shoes before entering - some stores even requested it). The one room, 15x30' house was tidy and had 4 beds all made with bedspreads and many pillows.  The inside walls looked to be old painted sheet rock.  I did not see any cooking facilities nor bathroom.  I did not ask but assume there must be a cooking shed annex and I did not even want to consider the bathroom facilities. There was one chair and a small love seat - they told us that we could sit on the furniture however since the chief pulled up a piece of the floor we decided to join him. The floor was wide planks covered with a piece of linoleum and they had a 6x10 woven mat in the center of that. 

Susan and I, not being used to the long skirt, make our way down. I can't sit cross-legged I learned after a moment and had to sit with my legs to one side.  My feet kept falling asleep and I was most uncomfortable and looked longingly at the love seat, but remained on the floor. Some homes have generators, but not every one. There is radio but no TV in this village.  They do have spigots of water from the nearby stream, which when we filled our water jugs was somewhat murky as it had been raining the last week or so. The water is "good".

The actual Sevu Sevu is a presentation of the Kava root to the chief - this is a sign of respect of old customs and by doing this we are basically requesting to be taken care of by the village and to anchor, swim, fish, hike and enjoy their island life.  Susan presents the Kava to the chief by placing it at his feet.  If he picks up the Kava we are accepted into the village. He does and he says a few words in Fiji of his thanks which is translated to us by David, one of the English speaking men.  We chat a bit about where we are from and what our plans are.  We are told of good snorkeling and dive areas.  Also, we learn which islands are friendly to cruisers and general information about the area.  I ask about sea snakes and am told they are here but not as abundant as in Suva - apparently they are attracted to the pollution in Suva harbor.  This village is visited by only 10 boats or so a year.  The natives generally do not travel to the mainland in Suva but a few times a year, even though it is only about 50 miles by water.

We took a walk through the hillside guided by the English speaking men (David and Savoy). They were great guides and taught us about the vegetation - we forge streams and visit a hot spring.  The topography is lush and hilly but no spheres or jagged peaks as in the Marquesas. They have domestic pig and wild boars as well as chickens and many scrawny sad looking dogs.  No cows or goats.  They planted cassava that they call tapioca as well as Kava and we saw a number of huge mango trees.

David is a missionary for the Assembly of God and is in this village for a week working with the youth trying to make them more productive Fijians.  He tells us that there is much smoking of cannabis and drinking of kava, which makes the youth lazy.  There were problems with men beating their wives and rape in this village as well.  With his faith he is trying to give them direction. Sad but even small villages on small islands are not isolated from the problems found everywhere in the world.

We arrive back to the village with our friends on S/V Dream Weaver at 5pm for our kava ceremony - this is where we actually drink the muddy potion. The chief greets us in his flowered shirt and sulu. We are told to take our seats on the floor again around the large kava bowl.  The bowl is about 24 inches in diameter and carved with legs that stand about 4-5 inches off the floor. They begin by taking the previously ground Kava and placing it in a cheesecloth bag which they place in the bowl and start adding water.  So much water to a bag.  Then the Kava Master begins squeezing the bag in the water with his hands - not sure if he has washed his hands but we try not to think about it.  After a few minutes the water is muddy brown and we are ready to drink. 

One-person drinks at a time - everyone uses the same 1/2 coconut shell except for the chief.  Susan is the lucky dog to go first since we are the only women and invited guests.  The handler hands Susan a 1/2 full coconut.  Susan says "Bula" and claps once before taking the bowl.  She downs the drink in one gulp, hands the bowl back to the handler and everyone claps 5 times.  The bowl is handed back to the Kava Master, refilled and the process begins again with the next person. 

There is "low and high tide" with low tide being 1/2 of a coconut and high tide being a full coconut.  It appears that the Fijian men are all "high tiders", these chicks stuck with "low tides".  We go around the room until everyone has drunk.  This night we went through 2 bowls of kava and about 8 rounds.  I felt a little mellow and slightly nauseous when we left.

The tide had not come in yet so we had to slog our way out to the dinghy in 3 inches water and paddle around the reef that is just offshore from the village.  It is pitch black and raining.  Eventually, we get far enough and can turn on the dinghy engine.  It is around 9PM when we get back to the boat.

Enjoying Life Onboard.

Susan and Laura

SV Mystic Traveler