Hina

Also known as: Hina of Hilo / Hina of the fire / Hina-a-ke-ahi / Hina-akeahi / Ina / Lono-moku · Role: mother of Maui · First appears: Chapter I · Maui's Home · Part 1

In Chapter I · Maui’s Home · Part 1, the Hawaiian family chant names Hina-a-ke-ahi as Akalana’s wife and the mother of Maui First, Maui-waena, Maui Kiikii, and Maui of the malo. In Chapter I · Maui’s Home · Part 2, she prepares cloth for Maui and his brothers. In Chapter II · Maui the Fisherman · Part 1, Hina hides a wing of Alae and breaks the land under the water; in Part 4, Maui uses her sacred bird as bait, and Hina tries to rescue it but tears off its wing.

In Chapter V · Maui Finding Fire · Part 2, Hina wants fish, and Maui tells her he will follow the birds to learn how to make fire; she encourages him. In Part 3, she has taught him how to recognize the fire-maker. In the separate Society Islands legend in Part 3, Ina (Hina) promises to help Maui find fire and sends him to Tangaroa. In Chapter VII · Maui and Tuna · Part 3, Kuna-moo dams the river to drown Hina in her cave, but Maui cuts a new channel and leaves her unharmed. In Chapter IX · Maui’s Kite-Flying, she prepares the strong kapa used for Maui’s kite.

Chapter XII · Hina of Hilo tells that in the Southern Pacific Islands, Ina is placed in the skies to make tapa. In Part 2, Hina calls on Maui for help and joyfully spreads her tapa after realizing what he has done. In Chapter XIII · Hina and the Wailuku River · Part 1, rising water enters her cave and she calls to Maui; in Part 2, he breaks the dam and releases the water. A separate Hervey Islands account says Tuna, the eel god who loved Ina (Hina), died for her and gave his head to be buried.

In Chapter XIV · The Ghosts of the Hilo Hills · Part 1, Hina gives Halai to her daughter Hina Ke Ahi and Puu Honu to Hina Kuluua; her other named daughters are Hina Ke Kai and Hina Mahuia. South Sea legends say she married the moon. Chapter XV · Hina, the Woman in the Moon, gives different island accounts: in one, she climbs toward the Sun but returns to earth when its heat weakens her, then climbs to the moon despite her husband breaking her leg. In the Hervey Island tradition, Marama takes her to live in the moon; in the Tongan legend, she remains there as protector of the fire-walkers. The Atiu Island story says she takes her human husband to the moon and later sends him back to earth to die, while the Samoan story says the moon receives Hina, a child, and her tapa-making tools and materials. From the heavens, she also shows Kahai the way into the skies.