Key Info

- Fertility goddess who birthed many powerful Hawaiian deities and created the islands, marine life and land creatures

- Gave female mortals the ability to have natural childbirth

- Uses her magical branch, Makalei, to attract fish and change between young an old.

Brief Bio

Haumea is a revered Hawaiian goddess of fertility, childbirth, and the creator of the Hawaiian archipelago. As a maternal, transformative ancestor, she is considered the progenitor of Native Hawaiians and often associated with the earth, plants, and nurturing power. She can appear in many forms, including as a young woman, an old woman, or an elemental spirit. She is the mother of many important deities, such as Pele, Kāne Milohai, Kāmohoaliʻi, Nāmaka, Kapo, and Hiʻiaka. She was killed by Kaulu. 

With the help of a magic stick called the Mākālei, Haumea repeatedly transforms herself from an old woman to a young girl, and returns to her homeland periodically to marry one of her offspring, thus giving birth to continuous generations of humans. Eventually, her identity is found out by Kio, which angers her, causing her to leave humanity behind.

The Kani-ka-wi treeis associated with Haumea, who created a potion from it to help women give birth.Haumea is said to have given humans the ability to give birth naturally. In a story, she visited Muleiula, the daughter of a chieftain who was experiencing painful childbirth, during which she discovered that humans only gave birth by cutting open the mother. Seeing this, Haumea created a potion out of the Kani-ka-wī tree (Spondias dulcis), which allowed the mother to push out the baby naturally.