| yee |
Not all plants made it to Hawai'i without the help of man. Culturally important plants were brought and further developed here by Hawaiians in their canoes. The following link further describes one of these canoe plants, 'awa (Hawaiian kava), and its use by Hawaiian culture:
http://www.canoeplants.com/awa.html
It also has some other links to other canoe plants.
In an otherwise a interesting text, there are a few points that should be noted about that link's essay (in parentheses):
1. That ('Awa grows wild now...). Perhaps more accurate is that 'awa patches as found in the wild were placed there by humans - probably ancient Hawaiians. And because of today's greed and ignorance, many of these patches, some of which believed to contained cultivars only known through historical texts, have been plundered to extinction. Two years ago, I have learned that some idiot(s) removed the entire stand of a unique 'awa cultivar said to be favored by Chiefess Lu'ukia in Waipio Valley. In addition, there are many stories of people engaged in this trade of harvesting so called "wild 'awa" for commercial purposes. Each time that happens, we very likely lose the opportunity to learn of the cultivars developed by ancient Hawaiians. Please buy farmed 'awa, not wild harvested.
2. That ('Awa is also a narcotic.) is not true. Clinically, 'awa or kava, is not known to be addictive, neither is there a tolerance associated with it, and in the legal sense, 'awa or kava is not classified as a narcotic.
3. That ('Awa is water soluble.) is not true. 'Awa is mixed with water to create a suspension of kavalactones. But kavactones themselves are considered lipid-soluble.
4. That (Over indulgence in `awa use for a period of time can adversely affect the skin and eyes.) It should be noted that this refers to a dry skin or reddened eyes. Should this occur, the condition is temporary, not permanent, and more of a curiousity. Normalcy returns after cessation of any heavy drinking.
5. That (While living in Western Samoa...) be careful not to presume Samoan traditions are the same as Hawaiian. A perhaps interesting Master's thesis providing clarity on this issue from a friend should be issued from the University of Hawai'i by the end of this year.
Mahalo,
Jonathan
Hawaiian Kava Center, LLC |
| ScottMaui |
I am the website maintainer for this site, and brought these questions to the attention of the author, Dove White.
Re #2 that it is a narcotic, she had actually instructed me to change that prior to reading the question here, to say that it is a sedative, which I believe is correct. And after reading the item on it being lipid-soluable rather than water soluable, she asked me to update that item as well. And we're also making a couple other small changes to reflect the concerns raised in the other points.
so mahalo for bringing those to our attention!
Scott Crawford |