Kamapua'a

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This pre-missionary wooden statue of Kamapua'a was found in a cave in up-country Maui. It is on display at the Bailey House Museum.

In Hawaiian mythology, Kamapuaʻa ("hog child")^[1] is a hog-man fertility demi-god associated with Lono, the god of agriculture. The son of Hina and Kahiki-ula, the chief of Kauai, Kamapua'a was particularly connected with the island of Maui.^[2]

A kapua (trickster), Kamapuaʻa is best known for his romantic pursuit of the fire goddess Pele, with whom he shared a turbulent relationship. Despite Pele's power, Kamapuaʻa's persistence allows him to turn her lava rock into fertile soil.

He is linked with the humuhumunukunukuapuaa, also know as the reef triggerfish and presently the state fish of Hawaii.^[3]

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Alameida, Roy (1997) Stories of Old Hawaii, Bess Press, ISBN 978-1573060264.
• Beckwith, Martha Warren (1970) Hawaiian Mythology, University of Hawaii Press, ISBN 978-0-8248-0514-2.

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