In Hawaiian mythology, Nuakea is a beneficent

goddess A goddess is a female deity. In some faiths, a sacred female figure holds a central place in religious prayer and worship. For example, Shaktism (one of the three major Hinduism, Hindu sects), holds that the ultimate deity, the source of all re ...

milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of lactating mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfeeding, breastfed human infants) before they are able to digestion, digest solid food. ...

and

lactation Lactation describes the secretion of milk from the mammary glands and the period of time that a mother lactates to feed her young. The process naturally occurs with all sexually mature female mammals, although it may predate mammals. The process ...

. This name was also a title for a

wet nurse A wet nurse is a woman who breastfeeding, breastfeeds and cares for another's child. Wet nurses are employed if the mother dies, if she is unable to nurse the child herself sufficiently or chooses not to do so. Wet-nursed children may be known a ...

of royal prince, according to David Malo. Nuakea was appealed to staunch the flow of milk in the mother's breasts.

Euhemerism

There was a chiefess named after the goddess— Nuʻakea, wife of Keʻoloʻewa, chief of

Molokai Molokai or Molokai ( or ; Molokaʻi dialect: Morotaʻi ) is the fifth most populated of the eight major islands that make up the Hawaiian Islands archipelago in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It is 38 by 10 miles (61 by 16 km) at its g ...

. Martha Warren Beckwith suggested that Nuʻakea was deified.''Hawaiian Mythology'' by Martha Warren Beckwith
See this page.
/ref> According to the myth, Nuʻakea was a goddess who came to Earth and married mortal chief Keʻoloʻewa, but it is known that historical Nuʻakea was born on

Oahu Oahu (, , sometimes written Oahu) is the third-largest and most populated island of the Hawaiian Islands and of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital, Honolulu, is on Oahu's southeast coast. The island of Oahu and the uninhabited Northwe ...

Notes

{{Reflist Hawaiian goddesses Milk in culture Wet nursing