Aikanaka (mythology)

In Hawaiian mythology, ʻAikanaka (or ʻAi Kanaka, ʻAikane) is a mortal chief who married Lona, the moon goddess. They lived happily together in her palace until he died of old age.[1][2]

ʻAikanaka
Spouse(s)Lona
Hinahanaiakamalama
ChildrenHemā

His name means "man eater". His father was named Hulumanailani, whilst his mother was named Hinamaikalani.[3]

ʻAikanaka also married Hinahanaiakamalama (according to the Ulu genealogy). She bore him sons Hemā and Puna.[4]

Both Lona and Hinahanaiakamalama are lunar goddesses, so it is likely that they are the same person, and ʻAikanaka is married to just one woman.[5]

According to the Ulu genealogy, ʻAikanaka was born ca. 746.

Notes
  1. Jan Knappert. Pacific mythology: an encyclopedia of myth and legend.
  2. Ramesh Chopra. Academic Dictionary Of Mythology.
  3. Samuel Kamakau. Tales and Traditions of People of Old.
  4. E.R. Tregear, Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary (Lyon and Blair: Lambton Quay), 1891.
  5. Martha Warren Beckwith, pp. 214-25
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