In the names Pa'u-o-Pala'e and Wahine'oma'o are personifications of plant forms. Pa'u-o-Pala'e is the pala'a or lace fern. As Hi'iaka became an 'aumakua or ancestral god of healers, so the pala'a fern became a remedy in their hands, and they used it to treat female disorders. Wahine'oma'o is the vine variously called mohihihi, nanea or puhilihili.
The hula was a very popular amusement amoung the Hawaiian people. It was used as a means of conferring distinction upon the ali'i and people of wealth. On the birth of an ali'i, the chiefs and people gave themselves up to the hula, and much property was lavished on hula dancers. The children of the wealthy were ardent devotees of the hula. It was the custom of hula dancers to perform before the rich in order to obtain gifts from them. [Malo 1951:231].
Kapo's nature was dual. As kapo'ulakina'u when was the Kapo invoked by kahuna when sending evil back upon a witch. This Kapo was a goddess whose temper was violent and vengeful. But when worshipped by dancers and chanters, this same person was the gentle Laka, the spirit of the forest. Yet when the kapu of seclusion was disregarded by a student or teacher during the period of devotion to hula training in the halau, the loving Laka quickly changed into vengeful Kapo and smote the culprit [Handy & Pukui 1958:124]
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