In Hawaiian mythology, Nāmaka (or Nā-maka-o-Kahaʻi, the eyes of Kahaʻi) appears as a sea goddess in the Pele family. She is an older sister of Pele-honua-mea. [1] [a]
She is the daughter of Ku-waha-ilo and Haumea, whose other children are Pele, the Hiʻiaka sisters, the Kama brothers, and the bird Halulu. Nāmaka takes as her husband ʻAukelenuiaʻīkū, who had arrived in Lalakeenuiakane or in Kahiki (Tahiti), but he later becomes the husband of her sister Pele, and because of this Pele, the Hiʻiaka sisters, Malulani, and Kaʻōhelo migrate to Hawaii. When Pele quarrels with her powerful sister Nāmaka , Nāmaka sends tidal waves to destroy Pele's lands and homes. Helped by her family, Pele fights Nāmaka, but Nāmaka defeats her. [2] [3]
In Thrum's Kane-huna-moku myth, Nāmaka is called the chiefess of the Mu and Menehune people when they are summoned to build the watercourse for Kikiaola at Waimea on Kauaʻi. [4]
When Pele causes a conflagration by staying too close to the fire god Lono-makua, Nāmaka drives her away [5] Another legend mentions that Nāmaka's guardian dog, Moela is reduced to ashes when he touches ʻAukele. [6]
Moon
Namaka, the smaller moon of the dwarf planet Haumea, is named after the goddess.
Explanatory notes
- ^ Another version states that Pele was born from the head of Haumea, while Nāmaka was born from her thighs, Beckwith (1982:171).
References
- ^ Beckwith (1982: 495): "She is the daughter of Ku-waha-ilo and Haumea, whose other children are Pele, the Hiʻiaka sisters, the Kama brothers, and the bird Halulu".
- ^ From Mary Kawena Puku'i ed. retold by Caroline Curtis and illustrated by Robin Burningham (revised 1985)[1960], Tales of the Menehune, excerpted in How Pele came to Hawai’i The Star Bulletin, 26 September 2005. "Based on Westervelt's 'Hawaiian Legends of Volcanoes,' taken from Hawaiian newspapers. Also from "Hawaiian Antiquities" by Fornander".
- ^ Version of Haleole (1863), reprinted in Beckwith (1919:636–638).
- ^ Beckwith (1982:193, 495)
- ^ Beckwith (1982:170)
- ^ Beckwith (1982:348)
- Bibliography
- Haleole, S. N. (1863). The story of Laie-i-ka-wai. The Beauty of Pali-ull, the Woman-of-the-Twilight. Composed from the old stories of Hawaii. Henry W. Whitney.
- Beckwith, Martha Warren (1919). "The Hawaiian Romance of Laieikawai". Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution 1911–1912. 33: 285–666.
- Beckwith, Martha Warren (1982) [1940]. Hawaiian Mythology. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 9780824805142.
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