Samoan Kava Ceremony

Kava 2
Monday Fono, August 1988 (First Monday of the month, meeting with the pulenu`u).

The kava announcer (tufa`ava), orator Manu`a), announces that the first kava cup goes to the high chief Alai`a-Sâ ('A-S' in the transcript), who is the highest-ranking chief present. The announcement is made by calling out Alai`a-Sâ's special cup name (Vaiuli), followed by the respectful term /kauke/ 'drink' and Alei`a-Sâ's name. The brief exchanges that follows is about the appropriateness of this call, given that this is a meeting called by the pulenu`u ('Pu' in the transcript) and therefore he should deserve the right to the first cup.

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