Thursday, June 14th, 2012
Ülikooli 16, room 212
at 14. 15 Marie Alohalani Brown
Alohalani is a PhD student in the English Department at the University of Hawai´i at Mānoa. She received her M.A. in Hawaiian language in 2010. To date, her master´s thesis is the largest compliation of traditional and current information regarding mo'o.l
Ka Po'e Mo'o -
Hawaiian Reptilian Water Deities
Predominately female, mo'o deities embody the ho'ōla (life-giving) and ho'omake (death-dealing) properties of the element with which they are associated, water. Replicating the elusive nature of mo'o, fragments of knowledge about these reptilian water deities lurk here and there, sometimes in unexpected places, often hidden deep within our epic legends. This talk offers an overview of the basic beliefs structuring Native Hawaiian understandings of mo'o or reptilian water deities.