Laka is a Hawaiian akua of hula and of forest growth; the hula altar (kuahu) is built for her with the lama, maile and a'ali'i, and she is the inspiration that moves the dancer. The name Laka covers more than one figure in Hawaiian tradition: also a male patron of hula, Ku-ka-ohia-Laka, and a voyaging hero, Laka son of Wahieloa. 'Laka the goddess of hula' is therefore one figure among several, and the entry does not merge them. Emerson's Unwritten Literature of Hawaii (1909) and Beckwith's Hawaiian Mythology (1940) are the usual sources.
Modern Practice
Laka is served at the kuahu with the lei, the plants and the dance, and her practice is the discipline of the halau. Hula was suppressed by the missionaries after 1819 and revived under Kalakaua, and the kuahu is protocol, not decoration. The dance is the offering.