Ina (goddess)
|
|
In Polynesian mythology, Ina is a lunar deity (daughter of Kui or Vaitere) who kept an eel in a jar, but it soon grew into the eel-god, Tuna, who tried to rape her. The people of Upolo rescued her and sentenced him to death. At his request, she buried his head in the sand and from it grew the first coconut.
Ina is married to Marama, the god of the night. She lives in the sky during the daytime when her husband is not visible. She makes tapa (a type of cloth made from bark) and hangs her tapa in the sky, where it is fixed with boulders. The tapa are clouds, and when they are finished, she takes them away and the boulders roll, causing thunder.
She has a daughter named Aroture.
In Hawaii, Hina-Ika ("lady of the fish") is equivalent to Ina. She is the goddess of fish, the inventor of barkcloth, creator of Molokai and a lunar deity.