whaimana
1. (verb) to be valid, have status, have a right, have jurisdiction, have authority.
Taro ake, i te whakamanatanga i ngā kaunihera Māori, nā te kāwanatanga o Aotearoa i whakatū ki te kohi i ngā tāke, ka whakakāhoretia e Te Mete me Ngāti Ranginui kia whaimana te Kaunihera Māori o te Takiwā o Mātaatua ki a rātou (TTR 1994:95). / Later, when the Māori councils set up by the New Zealand government were empowered to collect the taxes, Te Mete and Ngāti Ranginui refused to recognise the authority of the Mātaatua District Māori Council over them.
2. (modifier) valid, legitimate, authentic, of status.
I kite ia i te toi o ngā rangatira me ngā tapairu whaimana o tōna wā (TTR 1994:93). / She saw the notable chiefs and aristocratic women of status of her times.
Synonyms: tūturu
3. (noun) validity, legality, authority.
I whakaae ngā tāngata i whaiwāhi atu ki te Hui Taumata; 1. Kia tirohia Te Ture mō Te Reo Māori (1987) kia riro mā ngā Māori anō ngā āhuatanga katoa o te reo Māori e whakahaere, kia tino rite te reo Māori ki tō te reo Pākehā te whaimana i ngā wāhi katoa o Aotearoa (HM 4/1996:6-7). / The people who participated in the Summit Meeting agreed that; 1. The Māori Language Act (1987) be reviewed so that Māori themselves manage all aspects of the Māori language and that the Māori language has exactly the same validity in all parts of New Zealand.
