Medical kahunas (learned men) had many uses for it. Its effect is to relax mind and body and it was used by farmer and fisherman for this purpose. Outside of water and drinking coconut, no other drink was known. The 'awa custom is of interest in Hawaii because it was a sacred drink of importance in many phases of Hawaiian life.
Indeed its presence is an indication of Polynesian influence, and 'awa vies with the betel nut of Melanesia in being closely and tenaciously associated with culture. The study of the 'awa custom is of interest because it was cultivated in Polynesia wherever it could be grown and its use was of significance. The Hawaiian spelling will now be followed, however. The term kava has been used in the title of this paper because it is well known. In Hawaii, and some other Polynesian areas, the initial k of the word is dropped, and it becomes 'awa. Kava is the widely known term for the root and the beverage. The Pacific islands custom of making a beverage from the root of Piper methysticum is well known to the rest of the world, chiefly from observance of its use in western Polynesia-Samoa and Tonga, as well as Fiji. Emory for helpful and painstaking criticism. Caum have criticised the statements concerning kava as a plant. Thanks are due to the librarians of those institutions, Miss Maude Jones and Miss Bernice Judd. Material additional to that in the Bishop Museum Library has been found at the Archives of Hawaii and the Hawaiian Mission Children's Society on the topics of kava and the law, and kava as a foe of the missionaries. Deep indebtedness for her share in making this record is herewith acknowledged. She has selected, translated and elucidated the material and has contributed from her own wide knowledge of early Hawaiian life as well as searching for information from other Hawaiians. Hawaiian sources have been searched by Mary Kawena Pukui. The material has been gathered from a wide variety of sources: observations of foreigners, early visitors and later residents, native material from chants and legends revealing thought untouched by external influence, and later-day comments by Hawaiians in their newspapers and periodicals. THIS presentation of the kava custom in Hawaii is the outgrowth of a suggestion made by Dr.
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