In Hawaiian mythology, Nāmaka (or Nā-maka-o-Kahai, the eyes of Kahai) appears as a sea goddess in the Pele family. She is an older sister of Pele-honua-mea.: "She is the daughter of Ku-waha-ilo and Haumea, whose other children are Pele, the Hiʻiaka sisters, the Kama brothers, and the bird Halulu".
She is the daughter of Ku-waha-ilo and Haumea, whose other children are Pele, the Hiʻiaka sisters, the Kama brothers, and the bird Halulu. Nāmaka took ʻAukelenuiaʻīkū as her husband, who had arrived in Lalakeenuiakane or in Kahiki (Tahiti), but he later became the husband of her sister Pele, and because of this Pele, the Hiiaka sisters, Malulani, and Kaʻōhelo migrate to Hawaii. When Pele quarrels with her powerful sister Nāmaka, Nāmaka sends tidal waves to destroy Pele's lands and homes. Helped by her family, Pele fights Nāmaka, but Nāmaka defeats her.From Mary Kawena Puku'i ed. retold by Caroline Curtis and illustrated by Robin Burningham (revised 1985), Tales of the Menehune, excerpted in How Pele came to Hawai’i The Star Bulletin, 26 September 2005. "Based on Westervelt's 'Hawaiian Legends of Volcanoes,' taken from Hawaiian newspapers. Also from "Hawaiian Antiquities" by Fornander".Version of , reprinted in .
In Thrum's Kane-huna-moku myth, Nāmaka is called the chiefess of the Mu and Menehune people when they are summoned to build the watercourse for Kikiaola at Waimea on Kauai.
When Pele causes a conflagration by staying too close to the fire god Lono-makua, Nāmaka drives her away. Another legend mentions that Nāmaka's guardian dog, Moela is reduced to ashes when he touches ʻAukele.
Legacy
Namaka is the name of the smaller and inner moon of the dwarf planet Haumea, and its other moon is named after Namaka's sister, Hiʻiaka.
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