Laʻa Maomao

In Hawaiian mythology, Laʻamaomao is the goddess of the wind, she carried a gourd that contains all the winds of Hawai‘i, "which could be called forth by chanting their names", the gourd was passed down by

La‘amaomao, the Hawaiian wind goddess (lit. “distant sacredness”), to her granddaughter La‘amaomao; to her granddaughter’s son Paka‘a; to Paka‘a’s son, Ku-a-Paka‘a. In “The Triple Marriage of Laa-Mai-Kahiki” (Kalākaua, The Legends and Myths of Hawaii), La‘amaomao is described as a god rather than a goddess. He accompanies Moikeha to Hawai‘i from Kahiki and settles at Hale-o-Lono on the island of Moloka‘i, where he was worshiped as an ‘aumakua, or deity, of the winds. The female gender of the wind deity in the Paka‘a story seems to be a Hawaiian development as the wind deity in other Polynesian traditions is male (Ra‘a—Society Islands, Raka—Cook Islands, Raka-maomao—New Zealand).

The male version of the wind divinity was said to be created in the midst of chaos by his father, the sun god. Largely a benevolent entity, he is the god of forgiveness.

See also

• Raka Maomao
• Fa'atiu