Nāmaka- Polynesian GodDeity"Goddess of the Sea"
Also known as: Nā-maka-o-Kaha'i and Namaka
Description
Pele seduced Nāmaka's husband in Kahiki, and the sea goddess's rage drove her volcanic sister across the Pacific. Island by island, Nāmaka's waves extinguished Pele's fires. The final battle came on Maui, where Nāmaka tore Pele apart. But Pele's spirit escaped to Kīlauea.
Mythology & Lore
The Betrayal in Kahiki
The trouble began with a husband. Pele, Nāmaka's younger sister, seduced the sea goddess's consort in Kahiki, the ancestral homeland. Nāmaka's fury was oceanic. Pele fled, and the chase that followed would cross the entire Pacific. Beckwith's documentation of the Pele migration chants records the journey: Pele would land on an island, kindle volcanic fires, and begin to build. Then Nāmaka's waves would find her, crash over the new land, and drown the flames. Pele moved on.
The oldest islands in the Hawaiian chain, their volcanic fire long quenched, were Pele's first failed homes. Each island southeast of the last was younger, its volcanoes more restless. Nāmaka was always one step behind.
The Battle on Maui
On Maui, Nāmaka caught her. The sea came down on the fire. Steam filled the air. In Emerson's account of the chants, Nāmaka tore Pele's body apart. The volcano goddess was dead.
But Pele's spirit crossed the channel to the island of Hawai'i. She settled at Kīlauea, and this time the sea did not follow. Nāmaka, satisfied with the killing, turned back. Kīlauea still erupts. Where lava meets the ocean on the Big Island's shore, the water boils and steam rises. Neither sister has conceded.
Relationships
- Enemy of