Where was our Kava ceremony?

A grand opportunity to showcase a Cook Islands kava ceremony to the entire Pacific region was lost when a live feed of the opening ceremony went out to Pacific nations.
With all teams gathered in the stadium in front of a large crowd, the leaders of each team could have been called forward to take part in a Cook Islands kava ceremony where the Kumete pounding bowls made by our Master Carver Mike Tavioni could have been presented.
Each kumete was a work of art, no two were the same, each with different motifs and each of different size.
People in other Pacific nations and also tourists would have been interested to see our kava ceremony which these days is rarely performed. The last recorded performance was before the start of the 2007 canoe carving just prior to the Vaka Eiva. That ceremony was conducted on 12 November 2007 at the National Auditorium with canoe carvers, the PM and QR attending and where Ngarima George made the kava.
Another opportunity was also lost when Leader of the Opposition Hon Tom Marsters presented a kumete to the Fijian Mini-Games team at a reception held in front of the Telecom Sports Arena in Nikao.
On local television, viewers would have seen the kumete bowl, simply handed over to the head of the Fijian team without any special ceremony or even acknowledgement of the significance of the gift produced by our great Master Carver. There was no mention of the type of wood, what the motifs meant or the time and care taken in making it.
The Fijians, being familiar with the kava ceremony would have appreciated being witness to a kava ceremony done in the Cook Islands fashion. Indeed, Mike Tavioni performed such a ceremony in Hawaii at the canoe festival held in Maui and it greatly impressed the Hawaiians and others present. Certainly, the Fijians were denied a great photo opportunity as well as the media.
Mike Tavioni himself told the Times on Friday he felt the opportunity had been lost to promote tourism through such a ceremony. The kava ceremony is one aspect of our culture which is not promoted in the tourism sector to the nation’s financial advantage.
The Times considers more effort should have been made to incorporate our traditions and culture into the Games so the Games becomes an effective tool to promote tourism and generate income down the line. Opportunities to broadcast live to the region do not come often.

Headlines : Times 290 02 March 2009
- Lucky $1,000 winner
- Century old palm trees and the French connection
- Koutu Nui takes part in Raui meeting in Moorea
- WOM Award Dinner for Ake Hosea-Winterflood
- Island of Atiu to host Koutu Nui AGM in June 2009