Wallis (Uvea) kava: the cup that still crowns a king

On the small island of Wallis, which its own people call Uvea, kava still crowns the king. Just like the kingdom of Tonga a kava ceremony is part of how a new Lavelua, Uvea's monarch, takes the throne to rule his kingdom. Tonga is the more famous example of kava and kingship that everyone knows about, Wallis however is the more off the radar island that staid true to its roots thanks to an agreement with the French. It was actually refreshing while researching them to hear that the French did not impose their will to destroy cultures like most western nations did.. and still do.

I am embarassed to admit I actually did not know about Wallis's existence until a few years back when a buddy brought back a bag of its roots after his trip home to Samoa. I remember him being speechless how I wrongfully guessed Wallis was somewhere off the coast of New Zealand or Australia, and teased me thoroughly how it was closer to the rough distance from our homes to the local track we drove at. Even though it was 10am and we were getting boba, I should've taken the offer to head back and try out a batch. I guess it's true the biggest regrets in life are the opportunities you don't take. So what if I didn't get any work done that day! I would've heard some great stories and had some awesome kava! But I digress.

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The Lavelua

Uvea has a customary king called the Lavelua, and when a new one takes the throne the enthronement includes a highly specific kava rite and a big customary feast called the katoaga. Kava sits in the middle of everyday Wallisian life too, at celebrations public and private and at negotiations, basically whenever something serious between people has to be done properly, you pour a cup first. Same job it does in Tonga, in Vanuatu, in Fiji, and how they used to do it throughout the rest of the pacific.

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Why it feels so Tongan

There is a simple reason Wallisian ceremonies and kava feels that way, and that's because it comes straight down the bloodline. Tongans arrived on Uvea in the 1400s and kept close ties with Tonga for the next couple of centuries, and they reshaped the island's monarchy in the process, establishing the Lavelua title and a pyramid-style chiefdom that still stands today. The ruling families, the Fono Aliki, are ancient Tongan lineages that have been rooted (pun intended) on Uvea for generations. And from what I can tell it's close to a requirement that whoever takes the throne carries Tongan blood through his father's line. I told the fuller version of the Tongan one in our Tongan guide.

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The myth it borrowed

Because Uvea's whole tradition came up from Tonga, its kava myth came up from Tonga too. Uvea shares the dark and beautiful Tongan origin story, the one of Kavaʻonau, the girl whose poor parents sacrificed her to honor a visiting king, and from whose buried body the first kava grew out of her head while sugarcane grew out of her feet. Again, I told that story in full in the Tongan guide so I'd rather not go about repeating it here.

The cup gets poured the Western Polynesian way, which is its own thing. Nothing like Vanuatu or Hawaiʻi. The kava is made in a carved wooden bowl and strained through hibiscus bark fiber, and the whole event runs on order, oratory and rank, with the cup handed over and the proper words said over it. Compare that to a Vanuatu nakamal, where its completely unorganized. Like a wonderful pop up bar in the middle of a park. In Wallis, like Tonga and Samoa, the point is getting everyone's place exactly right

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A kingdom inside a republic

Funny side note. Wallis and Futuna is on paper, a French overseas collectivity. It uses the euro, it answers in some ways to a French administrator. French is even an official language. And yet inside that structure sit three living customary kingdoms, the Lavelua of Uvea and the two kings of Futuna, all still recognized and still enthroned. Most places, when the colonizer showed up, the old crown got dissolved or stripped down to a royal influencer with a costume to play out historical ceremonies like what happened with our beloved Hawaii. Uvea instead in a way, folded the new power in over the top and kept its king underneath it.

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Wallisian cultivars

Wallis has three named cultivars, and they use a similar naming system you find across Western Polynesia. Growers on Wallis and Futuna recognize hina kata loa, hina leka, and huli kata loa, and the names are just descriptions stacked together. Hina is white (really a pale green), huli is black (really a dark purple), leka is short, loa is long, and kata is the internode, the stretch of stem between two joints. So hina kata loa is "white, long internodes," hina leka is "white, short internodes," and huli kata loa is "black, long internodes." Color first, then internode shape, same as Fiji and Tonga, so a farmer can sort them by eye. Three isn't much next to Vanuatu's dozens but they're still respectable and I hear fantastic kavas in their own right.

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Is Wallisian kava heady or heavy?

As stated above, I haven't tried Wallisian myself yet due to inaccurate paranoia and struggling to let myself be present to just enjoy life. I have the same problem whenever we're back in Hawaii. My wife can sit on the beach for hours while I need to be helping the family with something or answering emails or whatever. I expect that's probably why us guys have a higher probability of dying earlier, because we can't relax. Even with kava I find myself attempting to get work done, just in a manner that is less "in my own way" Anyways, my expectation is that Wallisian kava sits like Tonga's, on the lighter, smoother, more sociable side rather than the deep, couch stuck end. Same disclaimer as always, I'm not a medically trained physician and I'm not making health claims, I'm just describing culture and how the cup tends to feel for me, or for this case how I would ASSUME the cup would feel for me. Nothing here should be substituted for medical advice.

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Where to start

We don't source Wallisian kava yet, so I can't hand you the real thing. I hear they've actually been sourcing from Tonga and Vanuatu lately since it's been getting harder to farm it on their home turf. I pray the plant and the tradition doesn't die out. But since Wallis is Tongan descended, and we do have a Tongan blend, Malohi Traditional Grind, that's the closest cup to start with. We only get Tongan shipments a couple times a year though, so if Malohi is out of stock, Raw Epicure is smooth and easy to keep drinking through an evening, Statera holds that balanced ceremonial middle, and Lumina is right there on the gentle side albiet way more heady and cerebral. If you are brand new and still finding your lean, the Variety Pack lets you taste across the range first. Wallis makes the most sense next to its family, so read the Tongan and Futuna guides too. New to all of it? Our first timer's guide will walk you in.

I am still learning new things about every origin season to season so thank you for staying on the journey with me. Hopefully I can travel out there one day. Hopefully.

From our ohana to yours, mahalo nui.