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PBS HAWAIʻI CLASSICS Iona Pear Dance Theatre: Hawaiian Myths and Legends Air Date: Wed, Jun 12, 2024 7:30 PM From Baking Showdowns to Nostalgic Dreams
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- 27 min
- PBS Hawaiʻi
2 days ago · PBS HAWAIʻI CLASSICSIona Pear Dance Theatre: Hawaiian Myths and Legends. PBS HAWAIʻI CLASSICS. Iona Pear Dance Theatre: Hawaiian Myths and Legends. Get a rare behind-the-scenes look at a production by this locally-based group in a 1997 episode of Spectrum Hawaiʻi. Air Date: Wed, Jun 12, 2024 7:30 PM. Get a rare behind-the-scenes look at a ...
Discover Hawaii's rich cultural heritage through captivating myths and legends, featuring the creation chant Kumulipo, demigod Maui's daring feats, and the fiery goddess Pele.
- List of Hawaiian Gods and Goddesses
- Hawaiian Goddesses
- Hawaiian Gods
- Hawaiian Legends
Click on each link to learn more about a particular Hawaiian God or Hawaiian Goddess: 1. Pele: Goddess of Fire & Volcano Goddess 2. Na-maka-o-Kaha’i: Goddess of Water and the Sea 3. Poli’ahu: Goddess of Snow 4. Lilinoe: Goddess of Mist 5. Laka: Goddess of Beauty, Love, Fertility 6. Maui Demigod: God of the Sun 7. Kane: God of Forests and Wild Foods...
Pele Goddess
Perhaps the most famous goddess in Hawaiian mythology, Pele is the goddess of fire and the volcanogoddess. Due to her fiery temper and attempted seduction of her sister Na-maka-o-Kaha’i’s husband, her father Kane banished Pele from her home, leaving her to sail the earth. Along the way, Pele created massive volcanoes at each of her island stops and eventually settled down at Mauna Loa, the largest active volcano on Earth at 13,677 feet. With the recent eruption of the Kilauea Volcano, visitor...
Na-maka-o-Kaha’i
The older sister of Pele, Namaka is the goddess of waterand the sea. With the opposite element of her passionate sister, Namaka was angered by her sister’s seduction of her husband and chased her out of their home. She is also known for casting massive waves over the fires started by her sister as the opposing element to fire. In some Hawaiian legends, different forms Namaka takes are the cliff and the ocean. Another story details Namaka’s treatment of her sister Pele and her family: Namaka a...
Poli’ahu
The goddess of snow, Poliahu lives at the top of Mount Kilauea. The oldest daughter of Kane, she is known for spreading snow across the mountain in the winter and wildflowersin the spring. She too has clashed with her sister Pele regarding who has true ownership of Mount Kilauea. One legend tells of a sledding competition between Poliahu and her sisters: when Pele is angered at losing the competition, she unleashes lava on the ground that Poliahu helps put out by releasing snow onto it. These...
Maui Demigod
Seen most recently in Disney’s Moana, Mauiis a demigod and the god of the sun. When the sun rose and set too quickly, Maui tamed it and extended the length of a day so people could have longer days to work. He has been involved in several other adventures, and notably tried to secure immortality for humans (but ultimately failed). Known as the “trickster hero of Polynesia,” Maui was known for getting into situations throughout the Hawaiian Islands. His origin story differs depending on each i...
Kane
Along with Lono and Ku, Kane is the chief of the trinity of Hawaiian gods. He is the god of wild foods and the forest. He is the father of several Hawaiian goddesses including Pele, whom he banished from the heavens. When creating human beings with his brothers, Kane was responsible for giving them life. One Hawaiian creation myth involving Kane states that he created the first man’s body out of red clay and his head from white clay. Kane’s home is called Hunamoku, a heavenly paradise thought...
Lono
A foil to Ku, the god of war, Lono is the god of peace, music, learning and cultivated foods. Along with brothers Kane and Ku, he helped create humanity by supplying fertile soil from which people were created. The rainy season from October-February is associated with Lono: some say after an incident with his first mortal wife Kaikilani, the rain was Lono’s tears over his loss of her, while some legends say the rain is due to his connection with agriculture. For this reason, he is also associ...
HAWAII TROPICAL BOTANICAL GARDEN
Boasting over 2,000 species of plants, the Hawaii Tropical Botanical Gardenis set seven miles northeast of Hilo along the shores of Onomea Bay. Onomea means “the best place,” and it’s an apt description for this fertile 40-acre valley, a natural greenhouse blessed with over 160 inches of rainfall a year and remarkably fertile volcanic soil. Here, enormous mango trees and coconut palms tower above lush jungle filled with rare and endangered plants from Africa, Australia and Indonesia. Built by...
HAWAI’I VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK
No figure in Hawaiian mythology looms larger over the Big Island than Pele, the passionate, volatile goddess of fire referred to in sacred chants as “She Who Shapes the Land.” It is believed that Pele was exiled from her homeland in Tahitiby her father after seducing the husband of her water-goddess sister, Na-maka-o-Kaha’i. Pursued by her angry older sibling, Pele sailed from Tahiti in a canoe, creating new volcanic homes at each island she landed upon only to have Namaka flood them out. Eve...
MAUNA KEA
No trip to the Big Island would be complete without making a trek up to the summit of Mauna Kea (“White mountain”), the dormant volcano believed to be the sacred home of the snow goddess Poli’ahu. Revered for a power and beauty that rivaled the majestic mountainsof her home, Poli’ahu was sometimes called “Cold Heart.” But she revealed a softer side of herself on the fertile, sunny cliffs of Hamakua, where she trimmed the landscape with winding streams and waterfalls that led to the sea. It wa...
- Bret Love
Feb 1, 2024 · Hawaii's Fiery Lovers to Enemies Myth. Not all marriages are love stories, and some of them are meant to end. The Hawai’ian volcano goddess Pele was briefly and disdainfully married to the...
- 11 min
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Mar 21, 2024 · Some of the most popular Hawaiian myths and legends include the story of Hiku and Kawelu, Pele's Curse, the Legend of Naupaka Flower
