Mamala the surf-rider was a chiefess of kupua character. She might appear as a shark, a lizard, or a woman. Her surfing skills were so impressive that people would gather on the beach to applaud her performance. She was married to the shark-man Ouha, but later left him for a chief named Hono-kau-pu. In an old
Honolulu legend, a kupua, who is a dog-man, overthrows the government of Kahanai and becomes the ruling power between
Nuuanu Valley and the sea. He is a
cannibal, and many of the people are killed and eaten by him. He can appear at will either as a man or a dog. In
Maui, the king once had a kupua, a
rooster, which was very cruel and destructive. He could assume a different bird form for each magic power he possessed. This, with his miraculous human powers, made him superior to all the roosters which had ever been his antagonists in
cock-fighting. In
Kauai, Akua-pehu-ale (god-of-the-swollen-billow) was a kupua who devoured his enemies and was greatly feared and hated even by his own tribe. In the legend of the
bread-fruit tree,
Papa, one of the ancestors of the people living in all the islands now known as
Polynesia, is described as a kupua. Her daughter Kap-ula-kinau also has kupua, or magic power. Other Hawaiian kupua mentioned in the mythology include the famous tricksters
Māui and
Kamapua'a,
Iwa,
Ono, and
Pekoi, amongst others. ==See also==