Explore This Reactivated Pasifika Practice With Kava 'O Aotearoa

Photo Credit: Jinki Cambronero

Someday Stories Series 6 and The Outlook for Someday presents...
Kava 'o Aotearoa
Available to stream now

Kava ‘o Aotearoa is a short documentary about a collective of Pasifika cultural leaders that come from a range of Pasifika communities including the Kingdom of Tonga and the Cook Islands. Director, Joshua Teariki Baker and producer Maria Tanner along with an excellent team of filmmakers explore the revival and reconnection of Pasifika peoples and tangata whenua, through the ancient yet humble kava root.

Kava 'o Aotearoa will be available to watch from today through the Someday Stories channels and screen partners; RNZ, Whakaata Māori and PlayStuff.

A universal pan-pacific practice, kava is part of the traditional and ancestral method with which Pasifika communities, past and present, have gathered together to hold court and discuss and dissect issues of the heart, home and land. An act of alchemy, the humble kava root is crushed and then mixed with water which is then ingested to induce a calming effect on all its participants, a way of levelling the playing field between different and sometimes contrasting ethos. For Kava ‘o Aotearoa, this gathering of peoples in an organised structure offers an opportunity to platform discussions and offer alternative solutions to otherwise hard, and challenging issues within underrepresented communities that simply seek to resolve issues affecting our world like: climate change; racism; youth inclusion; colonisation; and the Christchurch mosque shootings of 2019 - the catalyst for Kava ‘o Aotearoa’s inception.

On 16th April 2019, the 2018 Mana Moana fono (council) sparked serious consideration about the opportunity for Kava ‘o Aotearoa to provide a Pacific response to the Christchurch attacks and demonstrate how it has raised questions about Pacific peoples’ relationships with diverse ethnic groups. At that fono, Kava ‘o Aotearoa created their founding formula to create new spaces for this culturally adapted ceremony to exist and based that off the Tu’i Tonga kava ceremony to:

• Re-frame the traditional ‘ava/kava/yaqona ceremony, a central symbol of Pacific leadership. Re-framing is to demonstrate diversity and inclusion for Pacific and non Pacific peoples living in Aotearoa.
• Be equally innovative and respectful of the ‘tapu’ of collective Pacific heritages.
• Honour and acknowledge Māori as Tangata Whenua and Tuakana in Aotearoa.
• Be inclusive of groups not normally included in Pacific Traditions, including Muslims and women.
• Create a new resource for future Pacific peoples living in Aotearoa.

As diaspora of the Pacific we are aware of our evolution and our place within Aotearoa, and because of that we are constantly finding ways to connect with our culture and our communities to reinstall our civic pride, be it through dance, art, stories, foods, or the drinking of kava. Our collective outlook should embrace change, be courageous with our aspirations and use the past to inform our future. By leaning into each other’s cultural knowledge and unique practices, we lead the vaka and weave together a new, adaptive cultural fabric. - Statement from Kava 'o Aotearoa 
 

Someday Stories Series 6 platforms the exceptional work of six emerging young filmmaking teams through supporting them to produce their first professionally funded short film project. These incredible and thoughtfully considered films will premiere every Monday and Wednesday throughout late August to mid-September.

All of the films will be accessible to watch through the Someday Stories channels and their screen partners; RNZ, Whakaata Māori and PlayStuff with physical screenings in Auckland and Wellington.

© Scoop Media