Nuakea (deity)

For a Hawaiian noblewoman, see Nuakea, and for her daughter, see Kapau-a-Nuakea.

In Hawaiian mythology, Nuakea is a beneficent goddess of milk and lactation.[1]

This name was also a title for a wet nurse of royal prince, according to David Malo.[2]

Nuakea was appealed to staunch the flow of milk in the mother's breasts.

Euhemerism

There was a chiefess named after the goddess, Nuakea, wife of Keoloewa, ruling chief of island of Molokai.

Martha Warren Beckwith suggested that this princess was later deified and turned into a goddess.[3]

According to the myth, Nuʻakea was a goddess who came to Earth and married mortal chief Keoloewaakamauaua, but it is known that historical Nuʻakea was born on Oahu island.

Notes

  1. Native planters in old Hawaii: their life, lore, and environment by Edward Smith Craighill Handy, Elizabeth Green Handy, Mary Kawena Pukui.
  2. Hawaiian antiquities (Moolelo Hawaii) by David Malo
  3. Hawaiian Mythology by Martha Warren Beckwith. See this page.
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