I wanted to say the same thing as Taniwha. My understanding of mana in Hawaiian pre-contact usage was a combination of the qualities we would call leadership, charisma, and popularity. People with mana made good chiefs, led their warriors in battle and earned respect. They would be good politicians nowadays.
I'd be very interested in any further explanation from fit2rule about the missionary influence on the term. What you say is plausible, but is it based on real sources or just your interpretation? Most Polynesian societies were not secular in the sense that the chiefs consulted with the priests who interpreted the signs of their deity and both acted accordingly. So the chiefs ruled somewhat by divine authority, and the social taboos were couched in religious meaning. So mana could have had a meaning of divine grace or chosen by the gods, yet a modern-day Hawaiian shaman did not explain it to me that way.
I'd be very interested in any further explanation from fit2rule about the missionary influence on the term. What you say is plausible, but is it based on real sources or just your interpretation? Most Polynesian societies were not secular in the sense that the chiefs consulted with the priests who interpreted the signs of their deity and both acted accordingly. So the chiefs ruled somewhat by divine authority, and the social taboos were couched in religious meaning. So mana could have had a meaning of divine grace or chosen by the gods, yet a modern-day Hawaiian shaman did not explain it to me that way.