HISTORICAL AND CONTEMPORARY REPRESENTATION OF KAVA BY MEMBERS OF THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS

Abstract

In Oceania, kava, which is made from the root or stump of the kava shrub, is associated with traditional values such as sacrifice, loyalty, commitment, and chiefliness; it is especially linked with the importance of nurturing vā relationships with fonua—land and people (Kaʻili 2017: 74–75; Tomlinson 2020: 71, 74–75). Kava has also been demonized and mischaracterized since the early nineteenth century as a harmful substance detrimental to the spirit and physical body. The conflicting realities of kava as virtue and vice are expressly displayed in the relationship between kava and the Christian church. Specifically, this paper examines the dynamics between kava and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—known colloquially as Mormons, the LDS Church, or, in this paper, the Church—and the ways in which kava has been represented by the Church