Nuakea (deity)
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—Nuʻakea, wife of Keʻoloʻewa, chief of Molokai.
Martha Warren Beckwith suggested that Nuʻakea was deified.[3]
According to the myth, Nuʻakea was a goddess who came to Earth and married mortal chief Keʻoloʻewa, but it is known that historical Nuʻakea was born on Oahu.
Notes
- ^ Native planters in old Hawaii: their life, lore, and environment by Edward Smith Craighill Handy, Elizabeth Green Handy, Mary Kawena Pukui.
- ^ Hawaiian antiquities (Moolelo Hawaii) by David Malo
- ^ Hawaiian Mythology by Martha Warren Beckwith. See this page.