A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
Overview
On printed page 2 of Hawaiian Mythology, Martha Warren Beckwith describes kupua as a child of a god born into a human family. A transformation body associated with an animal, plant or other natural object reflects that divine descent, while the figure can also appear human. Its powers are associated with a particular district.
Beckwith explains that akua, aumakua and kupua can overlap according to a worshipper’s relationship with the being. A figure represented as kupua while living might later be understood as an ancestral guardian. Her 1940 synthesis provides a historical witness, rather than a uniform rule for every contemporary Hawaiian speaker. Following the family and local relationships in an individual narrative gives more information than collecting transformations into an imagined biological species.
Westervelt’s 1915 “Lau-ka-ieie” gives the category a concrete family narrative. The vine woman, her wind-bodied brother and singing shell companion move through human and natural-object bodies. Visiting shark people leave their shark bodies in the sea while appearing as humans at Waipiʻo, then return home after the wedding. The chapter lists leaf, flower, bird, tree, shell, cloud, wind, fish, shark, sea-moss and stone bodies among its kupua people. This is the collector’s classification attached to that telling, distinct from Beckwith’s later account of descent and district relationships.
Origins & earliest records
Beckwith’s Hawaiian Mythology, published in 1940, synthesizes earlier records and narrators’ accounts. Her categories are a research interpretation and should be compared with Hawaiian-language usage. A surviving record dates its documentation, not the beginning of an oral tradition; earlier transmission cannot be timed precisely from this witness alone.
Records & interpretation
The ethnographic synthesis explicitly discusses transformation forms and overlapping terms. Such classification records cultural concepts and narrative relationships rather than anatomical criteria for an animal species. This is evidence for cultural expression and recorded interpretation, rather than a zoological specimen or independently verified supernatural event.
In the literature
“her son, the kupua , or demigod, Hiku.”
Chapter V, “Hiku and Kawelu”; paragraph beginning “Not far from the summit of Hualalai, on the island of…” · Multiple contributors; section credits retained
J. S. Emerson’s contributed narrative calls Hiku a kupua; “demigod” is the contributor’s gloss.
“the ability to answer his call and by its flight to direct his journey.”
Chapter V, “Hiku and Kawelu”; paragraph beginning “This arrow was a sort of talisman, possessed of marvellous powers,…” · Multiple contributors; section credits retained
Hiku’s talismanic arrow answers him and guides his route.
“he resolved to attempt the perilous descent into the nether world”
Chapter V, “Hiku and Kawelu”; paragraph beginning “When his flight was discovered by Kawelu, the infatuated girl was…” · Multiple contributors; section credits retained
Hiku seeks to bring Kawelu’s spirit back from Milu’s realm.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Hawaiian Mythology
Selected primary witness; not an exhaustive bibliography.
- 02
Legends of Gods and Ghosts, VI: Lau-ka-ieie, pp. 36–48
Complete chapter read; narrative bodies and journeys kept source-specific.
- 03
Hawaiian Folk Tales: A Collection of Native Legends
Chicago: A. C. McClurg & Co., 1907, publication 1 March 1907 on title-page verso.
Family & connections
A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.
Located primary passages
Specific passages supporting details in this entry, grouped by their published witness.
Primary source witness
Chicago: A. C. McClurg & Co., 1907, publication 1 March 1907 on title-page verso.
- J. S. Emerson’s contributed narrative calls Hiku a kupua; “demigod” is the contributor’s gloss.
- Hiku’s talismanic arrow answers him and guides his route.
- Hiku seeks to bring Kawelu’s spirit back from Milu’s realm.
- Hiku disguises himself with rancid oils before his descent.
- Hiku captures Kawelu’s spirit in the shell on the ascent.
- The fictional revival episode introduces the spirit through Kawelu’s toe; this is narrative, not medical advice.
Historical translation or collector’s published version; not zoological evidence, a universal account or an assertion about all living communities.
Encyclopedia background
An additional attributed reference, separate from the editorial profile above.
Read the open encyclopedia overview
In Hawaiian mythology, the Kupua are a group of supernatural entities which might be considered gods or spirits (see also Atua).
Hawaiian myths and legends abound with such characters. They are traditionally described as monsters having the power of appearing in different kinds of bodies. They usually have cruel and vindictive characters and are ready to destroy and devour any persons they can catch. There are, however, many kupuas of kindly spirit who give watchful care to the members of their own families.
Many Hawaiian kupua are considered as gods having a double body, sometimes appearing as a man and sometimes being able to change shape, into an animal, vegetable, or mineral form. The latter form always possesses supernatural powers. William Westervelt mentions the following classification for kupua:
Ka-poe-kino-lau (the people who had leaf bodies)
Ka-poe-kino-pua (the people who had flower bodies)
Ka-poe-kino-manu (the people who had bird bodies)
Ka-poe-kino-laau (trees of all kinds, ferns, vines, etc.)
Ka-poe-kino-pupu (all shells)
Ka-poe-kino-ao (all clouds)
Ka-poe-kino-maani (all winds)
Ka-poe-kina-ia (all fish)
Ka-poe-kina-mano (all sharks)
Ka-poe-kina-limu (all sea-mosses)
Ka-poe-kina-pokaku (all peculiar stones)
Ka-poe-kina-hiwa-hiwa (all dangerous places of the pali)
Text from Wikipedia contributors, “Kupua”. CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted introduction; formatting changed. Retrieved 5 October 2026. The source article may have changed since retrieval.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Primary textHawaiian Mythology: I. Coming of the GodsResearch access: 2026-10-05
- Primary collected narrativeWestervelt, Lau-ka-ieie (1915), pp. 36–48Research access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
