I believe your understanding of the contemporary definition of mana is through a Christian lens. What the Maori thought it means, and what Christian missionaries allowed contemporary culture to understand it to be, are two different things. It wouldn't have served the Christian purpose to allow for a kind of spirituality to prosper that was more willing to pander to the supernatural in life - this is supposed to be Christs' job, after all. I think the definition as you have stated it is far from what the originators of the language intended .. but who knows? Maybe we're both wrong, and its indeed a harvestable spiritual substance that can be used to make yourself more powerful in the physical world.
> What the Maori thought it means, and what Christian missionaries allowed contemporary culture to understand it to be
You are committing a common error in portraying the Māori and their culture as being crushed and suppressed by colonialism. Hapless victims. The reality of the interplay between missionary and Māori is far more nuanced than that and you a strong disservice to Māori in your portrayal.
I'd ask what basis you have for your assertions about the 'lost' definition of mana, when the definition of mana in the Māori Dictionary specificially states:
> 2. (noun) prestige, authority, control, power, influence, status, spiritual power, charisma - mana is a supernatural force in a person, place or object.
It goes on to explain how mana originates from the Atua and propagates down. It also discusses the close relation between mana and tapu. http://www.maoridictionary.co.nz/word/3424
Where did I say the Maori were oppressed by Christian missionaries? I said no such thing. It is well known that the Maori's were able to deal with the cultural incursion of Christians better than most indigenous tribes in the times of contact
However, I do believe that Maori history and cultural perception has been colored by Christian historians. This has only recently begun to be rectified by John Moorfield, and other authors who have contributed to the Maori dictionary, which is a relatively recent advance.
I'm just trying to explain how the word is used today, AFAIK that christ guy is dead already - I'm not at all religious and I hear the word being use in secular, political contexts in modern New Zealand - I was just trying to explain its modern meaning
