Samoan Kava Ceremony

Kava 3
Monday Fono, August 1988 (First Monday of the month, meeting with the pulenu`u).

The orator Manu`a, who acts here as the kava announcer (tufa`ava) calls out the next cup of kava for the senior orator (matua) Iuli. The phrase 'two days and two nights' (lua ao lua pô) refers to a story about a gest by one of Iuli's ancestors. The cup-bearer scoops kava out of the kava bowl (tânoa) and slowly walks to Iuli and hands him the cup. In this segment, like in the one immediately preceding, there is an issue as to whether Iuli or the Pulenu`u should be served. This is articulated by Iuli in the comment that follows the kava call and precedes his 'blessing of the kava' (the comment is spoken softly and is hard to hear in this version).

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