A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

Overview

Adopted by Pokahi and Kaukini through Kū and Hina, Lau-ka-ieie grows into a woman attended by personified leaves, flowers, birds and shells. The singing shell joins her nightly music. Her dream of Kawelona initiates a search across the islands, completed by her wind-bodied brother Makani-kau, who brings the young man from Lehua.

Her wedding involves shell music and visiting shark people. When she eventually relinquishes her human body, she approaches Makani-kau as a slender leaf-covered woman with fiery eyes. He identifies her as the ʻieʻie vine, carries her into the forest beside Hina’s tree and sets her climbing other trees. Red flowers are compared with shining eyes. The tale links adopted kinship, marriage and the conspicuous climbing plant; it does not describe a predatory monster.

Leaf and vine-bodied kupuaNamed island and family relationships
01

Origins & earliest records

William Drake Westervelt, collected and translated account in Legends of Gods and Ghosts (Boston: Geo. H. Ellis; London: Constable, 1915). Individual narrator and earlier manuscript not identified in this chapter.

02

Records & interpretation

Complete selected chapter read. Colonial explanatory judgments are not adopted as descriptions of contemporary Hawaiian belief.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

  1. 01

    Legends of Gods and Ghosts, Chapter VI, pp. 36–48

    William Drake Westervelt, collector and translator · 1915

    Selected complete chapter; source spelling retained alongside Hawaiian place names.

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.

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

  1. Primary collected narrativeLegends of Gods and Ghosts, Chapter VI, 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.

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