King Charles III participated in a traditional kava-drinking ceremony in front of bare-chested, heavily tattooed Samoans and was proclaimed “High Chief” of the one-time Pacific island colony on Thursday.
The British monarch is on an 11-day tour of Australia and Samoa, both independent Commonwealth states – her first major overseas trip since being diagnosed with cancer earlier this year.
Dressed in a white safari-style suit, the 75-year-old king sat on top of a carved wooden longhouse where he was presented with a polished halved coconut filled with the alcoholic kava brew.
The tangy, slightly intoxicating root drink is an important part of Pacific culture and is known locally as “Awa”.
The kava roots were passed around the marquee, prepared by the chief’s daughter, and sifted through a sieve made of dried bark.
Once prepared, a Samoan man shouted while sipping the drink, which was eventually presented to the king.
Charles spoke the words: “God bless this Ava” before raising it to his lips.
Charles’s wife, Queen Camilla, sat beside him, fanning herself to reduce the harsh tropical humidity.
high chief
Many Samoans are excited to host the king – his first visit to the Pacific island nation that was once a British colony.
The royal couple visited the Moata village where Charles was made “tui taumasina” or high chief.
“Everyone has taken us to heart and is eager to welcome the king,” local chief Lenatai Victor Tamapua told AFP ahead of the visit.
“We feel honored that they have chosen to be welcomed into our village. So as a gift, we want to give them a title.”
Tamapua raised the issue of climate change and showed the king and queen around the local mangroves.
“The high tide is destroying our reef and where the mangroves are,” he told AFP. Food sources and communities are being washed away or submerged, he said.
“Our community depends on the mangrove area for mud crabs and fish, but the tides have risen by about two or three meters (up to 10 feet) over the past 20 years.”
The king is also in Samoa for the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting and will address a leaders’ banquet on Friday.
Colonialism and climate
The legacy of the empire figured prominently in the meeting.
Commonwealth leaders will select a new Secretary-General, nominated from an African country, in line with the regional rotation of the post.
All three potential candidates have publicly called for reparations for slavery and colonialism.
One of the three, Lesotho’s Joshua Setipa, told AFP the resolution could include non-traditional forms of payments such as climate financing.
He said, “We can find a solution that will begin to address some of the injustices of the past and put them in the context of what is happening around us today.”
Climate change features prominently on the agenda.
Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Fiji have supported calls for a “fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty” – essentially calling on Australia, Britain and Canada to do more to reduce emissions.
Pacific leaders argue that a trio of “big countries” have historically contributed more than 60 percent of the 56-nation Commonwealth’s fossil fuel emissions.
Vanuatu’s Special Envoy for Climate Change Ralph Regenvanu called on other countries to join the treaty.
He said, “As a Commonwealth family, we call attention to those who dominate the production of fossil fuels in the Commonwealth, to protect what we love and hold dear in the Pacific. To prevent fuel expansion.”
Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong said her gas and mineral-rich country is working to clean up.
“We know we have a lot of work to do, and I have come forward with every partner in the Pacific,” she said.
The Pacific island nation – once seen as the embodiment of a palm-fringed paradise – is now one of the most climate-threatened regions of the planet.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
