View source for 'Ilaheva

{{Short description|Woman in mythology of Tonga}}{{One reference|date=September 2024}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name = ʻIlaheva
| title = Noblewoman
| birth_date = c. 900
| birth_place = Tongatapu (possibly Niutoputapu, Niue, or Samoa)
| spouse = [[Tangaloa ʻEitumātupuʻa]]
| issue = [[ʻAhoʻeitu]]
| father = [[Seketoʻa]]
| mother = unknown
}} 
In the [[Polynesian narrative|mythology]] of [[Tonga]], '''{{fakau'a}}Ilaheva Va{{fakau'a}}epopua''' ({{fakau'a}}Ilaheva, living at [[Popua FC|Va{{fakau'a}}epopua]]) was a mortal woman, the daughter of [[Seketo{{fakau'a}}a]].  Seketo'a was either a chief of Tongatapu, or perhaps a god from [[Niuatoputapu]],
depending on the source. All accounts, however, agree that 'Ilaheva became the wife of [[Tangaloa]] and mother of [[{{fakau'a}}Aho{{okina}}eitu]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mysticgames.com/mythology/ILAHEVA.htm |title=ILAHEVA - Ancient Mythology |publisher=Mysticgames.com |date= |accessdate=2016-01-13}}</ref> the first divine king of the [[Tu{{fakau'a}}i Tonga]] dynasty in Tonga, around 900 AD.

Her name was '''ʻIlaheva'''. She lived near Vaʻepopua in Tongatapu. Her chief or noble relative may have lived in Tongatapu, but perhaps also in Niutoputapu, Niue, or Samoa.  ( E. W. Gifford, 1924)

ʻIlaheva was a noble Tongan woman mentioned in Tongan mythology. She is known as the mother of [[ʻAhoʻeitu]], who became the first Tuʻi Tonga (sacred king of Tonga). According to tradition, ʻIlaheva lived near Vaʻepopua in Tongatapu, where she met the god Tangaloa ʻEitumātupuʻa, who descended from the heavens. Their union produced ʻAhoʻeitu, who later ascended to the sky to meet his divine father and eventually established the royal Tongan dynasty ( E. W. Gifford, 1924).

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* R.D. Craig, ''Dictionary of Polynesian Mythology'' (Greenwood Press: New York, 1989), 82; 
* E.T. Gifford, ''Tongan Myths and Tales'' (Honolulu: Bernice P. Bishop Museum Press, 1924), 25–8.

[[Category:Tongan deities]]
[[Category:Legendary Polynesian people]]
[[Category:Women in mythology]]


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