Kihawahine is a Hawaiian shapeshifting lizard goddess (''

moʻo Moʻo are shapeshifting lizard spirits in Hawaiian mythology. Description Moʻo often take the forms of monstrous reptiles, tiny geckos, and/or humans. They were revered as ʻaumakua, and could have power over the weather and water. They were ...

''). When Kihawahine Mokuhinia Kalama‘ula Kalā‘aiheana, the daughter of the powerful sixteenth-century ruling chief of

Māui Māui or Maui is the great culture hero and trickster in Polynesian mythology. Very rarely was Māui actually worshipped, being less of a deity ( demigod) and more of a folk hero. His origins vary from culture to culture, but many of his main expl ...

Piʻilani Piʻilani ("ascent to heaven") (born ca. 1460) ruled as Alii nui of Maui, Chief of the island of Maui in the later part of the 15th century. At the time Maui was an independent Monarchy, kingdom within the List of islands of Hawaii, islands of Haw ...

, and his wife Lā‘ieloheloheikawai, died, her bones were deified, transforming her into the goddess. Kihawahine's home is Mokuhinia, a wetland pond on the island of Moku'ula. Kihawahine was the personal god ('' 'aumakua'') of

Keōpūolani Kalanikauikaalaneo Kai Keōpūolani-Ahu-i-Kekai-Makuahine-a-Kama-Kalani-Kau-i-Kealaneo (1778–1823) was a queen consort of Hawaii and the highest ranking wife of King Kamehameha I. Early life Keōpuolani was born around 1778 at an area known a ...

, a wife of

Kamehameha the Great Kamehameha I (; Kalani Paiʻea Wohi o Kaleikini Kealiʻikui Kamehameha o ʻIolani i Kaiwikapu kauʻi Ka Liholiho Kūnuiākea; to May 8 or 14, 1819), also known as Kamehameha the Great, was the conqueror and first ruler of the Kingdom of Hawaii ...

. At Kamehameha's final battle at the Nu'uanu Pali, he carried an image of Kihawahine with him. In modern times, a carving of Kihawahine served as the figurehead on ''

Hōkūleʻa ''Hōkūlea'' is a performance-accurate ''waa kaulua'', a Polynesian culture, Polynesian double-hulled voyaging canoe. Launched on 8 March 1975 by the Polynesian Voyaging Society, it is best known for its 1976 Hawaii to Tahiti voyage com ...

'', a voyaging canoe launched in 1975 by the

Polynesian Voyaging Society The Polynesian Voyaging Society (PVS) is a non-profit research and educational corporation based in Honolulu, Hawaii. PVS was established to research and perpetuate traditional Polynesian voyaging methods. Using replicas of traditional double-hul ...

Legend of Kihawahine and Haumea

Kihawahine and Haumea were both goddesses worshiped in Hawaiian temples. The war between the two goddesses began because both wanted to marry Puna, the chief of

Oahu Oahu (, , sometimes written Oahu) is the third-largest and most populated island of the Hawaiian Islands and of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital, Honolulu, is on Oahu's southeast coast. The island of Oahu and the uninhabited Northwe ...

. While touring the island in search of a suitable place for surf, Puna was tricked into following Kihawahine far into the ocean. The two stayed a long time living in a cave. The goddess cared for her beloved, but nevertheless, he was a prisoner there and knew that if he tried to escape, he would be destroyed by Kihawahine. After a long time, Puna managed to escape and returned to his first wife Haumea in Oahu. One day, while Haumea was out hunting for crabs in the sea, her husband wandered into a banana plantation that was owned by the island's new chief Kou. When he was discovered there, the watchmen took him to the chief who ordered for Puna to be killed. Haumea returned to find her husband's body hanging from a breadfruit tree. She ordered the tree to open and stepped inside it to stay with her husband. The Legend of Puna and the Dragon Goddess to-hawaii.com/
/ref>

References

Hawaiian goddesses {{deity-stub

Legend of Kihawahine and Haumea

See also

References