Haumea ( Hawaiian: ) is the goddess of fertility and childbirth in Hawaiian mythology. She is the mother of many important deities, such as Pele, Kāne Milohai, Kāmohoaliʻi, Nāmaka, Kapo, and Hiʻiaka. She was killed by

Kaulu In Hawaiian mythology, Kaulu is a trickster god who killed goddess Haumea at Niuhelewai, by catching her in a net obtained from Makali’i. He then killed Lonokaeho, also called Piokeanuenue, king of Ko'olau, by singing an incantation. Kaulu ...

. Haumea is one of the most important Hawaiian gods, and her worship is among the oldest on the Hawaiian islands.

Mythology

With the help of a magic stick called the Mākālei, Haumea repeatedly transforms herself from an old woman to a young girl, and returns to her homeland periodically to marry one of her offspring, thus giving birth to continuous generations of humans. Eventually, her identity is found out by Kio, which angers her, causing her to leave humanity behind. Haumea is said to have given humans the ability to give birth naturally. In a story, she visited Muleiula, the daughter of a chieftain who was experiencing painful childbirth, during which she discovered that humans only gave birth by cutting open the mother. Seeing this, Haumea created a potion out of the Kani-ka-wī tree (''

Spondias dulcis ''Spondias dulcis'' ( syn. ''Spondias cytherea''), known commonly as Polynesian plum or Tahiti apple, is a tropical fruit tree native to Melanesia, with edible fruit containing a fibrous pit. The tree was spread to neighboring regions as ca ...

''), which allowed the mother to push out the baby naturally.

Relationships

Haumea is the sister of the gods

Kāne In Hawaiian mythology, Kāne is considered the highest of the three major Hawaiian deities, along with Kū and Lono. He represented the god of procreation and was worshipped as ancestor of chiefs and commoners. Kāne is the creator and giv ...

and Kanaloa, and sometimes also the wife of Kanaloa. Some traditions identify Haumea with

Papahānaumoku In the religion and mythology of the ancient Hawaiians, Papahānaumoku (pronunciation: apahaːnaʊmoku — often simply called Papa — is a goddess and the Earth Mother. She is mentioned in the chants as the consort of the sky god Wākea. Th ...

, the goddess of the Earth, and wife of the sky god

Wākea In the Hawaiian religion, Wākea, the Sky father weds Papahānaumoku, the earth mother. The two are considered the parent couple of the ruling chiefs of Hawaii. ''Wākea'' was the eldest son of Kahiko ("Ancient One"), who lived in Olalowa ...

Offspring

With Kanaloa, Haumea gave birth to the war god Kekaua-kahi, the volcano goddess Pele, as well as Pele's brothers and sisters, including Hi'iaka. Except for Pele, who was born the normal way, her children were born from various parts of her body. From her head, for example, were born Laumiha, Kahaʻula, Kahakauakoko, and Kauakahi.

Kumulipo

According to the '' Kumulipo'', a Hawaiian creation chant, Haumea's offspring are: *Children by Mulinaha: **Laumiha **Kahaʻula **Kahakauakoko *Children by Kanaloa: **Kauakahi *Grandchildren: **Kauahulihonua **Haloa **Waia **Hinanalo **Nanakahili **Wailoa **Kiʻo (last born)

Death

Legacy

On September 17, 2008, the

International Astronomical Union The International Astronomical Union (IAU; , UAI) is an international non-governmental organization (INGO) with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreach, education, and developmen ...

named the fifth known

dwarf planet A dwarf planet is a small planetary-mass object that is in direct orbit around the Sun, massive enough to be hydrostatic equilibrium, gravitationally rounded, but insufficient to achieve clearing the neighbourhood, orbital dominance like the ...

in the

Solar System The Solar SystemCapitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Sola ...

Haumea Haumea ( minor-planet designation: 136108 Haumea) is a dwarf planet located beyond Neptune's orbit. It was discovered in 2004 by a team headed by Mike Brown of Caltech at the Palomar Observatory, and formally announced in 2005 by a team heade ...

''. The planet's two moons were named after Haumea's daughters: Hiʻiaka, the goddess born from the mouth of Haumea, and Namaka, the water spirit born from Haumea's body.IAU names fifth dwarf planet Haumea
International Astronomical Union, News release, September 17, 2008, Paris

Footnotes

References

External links

Sacred texts
Hawaiian goddesses Fertility goddesses Haumea (dwarf planet) {{deity-stub