Knowra Mana Mana Mana is a culturally situated concept of spiritual power, authority, or efficacy in several Indigenous Pacific societies. Its meanings and social roles vary among languages and communities.
Tapu : A sacred restriction or protected status in Māori and other Polynesian cultural contexts. Tapu can mark people, places, or objects as charged with mana and subject to restrictions.
Polynesian languages : A branch of the Austronesian language family spoken across Polynesia. Related forms of mana occur across Polynesian languages, with meanings shaped locally.
Māori kingship : A Māori political institution established in the nineteenth century to unite communities under a monarch. Debates about leadership and legitimacy often invoke the mana of the monarch and the movement.
Polynesian religions : Indigenous religious traditions of Polynesia, diverse across islands and communities. Mana belongs within particular cultural and religious systems, not one uniform Polynesian doctrine.
Mauri : A Māori concept of the life principle or vital essence present in people and the natural world. Mauri and mana are related but distinct concepts in Māori accounts of vitality and efficacy.
Māori language : The Indigenous language of Māori people of Aotearoa New Zealand. Māori usage gives mana specific meanings that cannot be assumed for every Pacific language.
Kaitiakitanga : Māori guardianship and reciprocal responsibility toward people, places, and the natural world. Environmental guardianship can express obligations associated with ancestral mana and place.
Hawaiian mana : A Hawaiian concept of spiritual power and efficacy, shaped by Hawaiian cultural and religious contexts. Hawaiian mana is related to, but not interchangeable with, Māori or other Pacific usages.
Whakapapa : Māori genealogical connections linking people, ancestors, and the natural world. Genealogical relationships can ground inherited mana and social standing.
Marquesan languages : A group of East Polynesian languages spoken in the Marquesas Islands. Marquesan usage provides a distinct linguistic setting for related ideas of efficacy and power.
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