Finelasi (Protective Goddess of Futuna)
Wallisian Futunan · deity · Wallisian Futunan traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
Finelasi is the protective goddess of the island of Futuna, one of the children of the ancestral couple Mago and Tafaleata and thus sister to the war-god Fakavelikele. Tradition places her dwelling on the 522-metre summit of Mount Puke, the island's highest point, which lends a sacred dimension to its ascent. On the neighbouring island of Wallis ('Uvea) she is known under the name Kakahu, and she remains a well-remembered figure of popular devotion into the modern period, illustrating the shared religious inheritance of the two Polynesian outliers.
Parentage
- parent: Mago (Ancestral Father of the Alo Lineage)
- parent: Tafaleata (Ancestral Mother of the Alo Lineage)
Domains
- tutelary protection
- sacred mountain
Powers
- to guard and protect the island of Futuna
- to reside upon the summit of Mount Puke
Relations
- sibling: Malafulafu (Protector God of Nature)Both are counted among the children of the ancestral couple Mago and Tafaleata, alongside the war-god Fakavelikele.Abbal, Odon. 'Les mythes de Wallis et Futuna.' Nîmes: Académie de Nîmes (academia.edu working paper). (secondary)
Sources
- Finelasi (called Kakahu on Wallis) is the tutelary protective goddess of Futuna who dwells on Mount Puke and remains a popular figure of local devotion.: Guiot, Hélène. 'Gestion traditionnelle des espaces forestiers à Futuna (Polynésie occidentale): Contenu idéel et pratiques associées.' Journal de la Société des Océanistes 110 (2000): 61-75. (secondary); Abbal, Odon. 'Les mythes de Wallis et Futuna.' Nîmes: Académie de Nîmes (academia.edu working paper). (secondary); Burrows, Edwin G. Ethnology of Futuna. Bernice P. Bishop Museum Bulletin 138. Honolulu: Bishop Museum Press, 1936. (secondary)