Which traditions do they belong to?

Both belong to the Polynesian Pantheon.

Side by side

Hi'iaka vs Pele

Hi'iaka and Pele are recorded as siblings within the Polynesian Pantheon.

At a glance

Polynesian Pantheon

tradition

Polynesian Pantheon

hula, healing, sorcery, lightning, ohia trees

domains

volcanoes, fire, lightning, dance, creation

ohia lehua flower, fern skirt, pa'u (hula skirt), lightning

symbols

volcanic fire, ohia lehua flower, pahoehoe lava, lava rock

Hi'iaka-i-ka-poli-o-Pele, Hi'iaka-in-the-bosom-of-Pele

also called

Pelehonuamea (She who shapes the sacred land), Ka wahine ai honua (The woman who devours the land)

Where they meet

Both are gods of lightning.

shared symbolsohia lehua flower

Where they part

Hi'iaka alone

hula, healing, sorcery, ohia trees

Pele alone

volcanoes, fire, dance, creation

How each was worshipped

Hi'iaka

Cult sites: Hula lineages; Pele's younger sister in Hawai'i.

Festivals: Hula as the working liturgy.

The epic of Hi'iakaikapoliopele is danced. Chant and forest travel are the cult. She heals and she wrecks; the hula keeps both.

Pele

Cult sites: Halemaumau crater at Kilauea, her living house, Other volcanic sites on Hawai'i Island.

Festivals: Offerings of gin, berries, and ohelo; hula for Pele.

The volcano is the temple. People still stack ho'okupu at the crater. She is jealousy, fire, and new land. Christian centuries did not empty the pit. Treat living practice as practice, not as folklore leftover.

Hi'iaka

Polynesian Pantheon

The youngest and most beloved sister of Pele. Hi'iaka is the patron goddess of hula dancers and the protagonist of one of the longest epic narratives in Hawaiian mythology, her journey to fetch Pele's lover Lohiau.

Hi'iaka was born as an egg during the great voyage from Kahiki to Hawaii. Pele carried the egg in her bosom, keeping it warm, and from it hatched the youngest of the family. Raised with special care by Pele, Hi'iaka grew into a powerful goddess in her own right.

Hi'iaka is Pele's favorite sister, born as an egg that Pele carried in her bosom during the great migration from Kahiki to Hawaii. She grew to become one of the most important goddesses in Hawaiian tradition, patroness of hula and protagonist of the greatest Hawaiian epic.

Read the full Hi'iaka entry

Pele

Polynesian Pantheon

The Hawaiian goddess of volcanoes, fire, and lightning. Pele is a fierce and passionate deity who creates new land through volcanic eruptions and whose temper is as volatile as the lava she commands.

Pele was born in Kahiki (Tahiti) to Haumea and Ku-waha-ilo. Her fiery nature and affairs angered her sister Namaka, the sea goddess, who drove her from her homeland. Pele traveled across the Pacific, seeking a home for her fires, finally settling in Kilauea volcano on Hawaii, where she remains the living goddess of volcanic creation.

Pele is the most revered deity in Hawaiian mythology, an akua (goddess) whose power is visible in every eruption of Kilauea. She embodies both creation and destruction, as her lava destroys what exists while simultaneously creating new land. She represents the untameable forces of nature and the passionate spirit of Hawaii itself.

Read the full Pele entry

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At a glance

Polynesian Pantheon

tradition

Polynesian Pantheon

hula, healing, sorcery, lightning, ohia trees

domains

volcanoes, fire, lightning, dance, creation

ohia lehua flower, fern skirt, pa'u (hula skirt), lightning

symbols

volcanic fire, ohia lehua flower, pahoehoe lava, lava rock

Hi'iaka-i-ka-poli-o-Pele, Hi'iaka-in-the-bosom-of-Pele

also called

Pelehonuamea (She who shapes the sacred land), Ka wahine ai honua (The woman who devours the land)

How each was worshipped

Hi'iaka

Cult sites: Hula lineages; Pele's younger sister in Hawai'i.

Festivals: Hula as the working liturgy.

The epic of Hi'iakaikapoliopele is danced. Chant and forest travel are the cult. She heals and she wrecks; the hula keeps both.

Pele

Cult sites: Halemaumau crater at Kilauea, her living house, Other volcanic sites on Hawai'i Island.

Festivals: Offerings of gin, berries, and ohelo; hula for Pele.