Be careful of what you wish for

[WarBlade]

Are you sure that the 'Mana' used in RPG fantasy games comes from the Polynesian word root, and not from an Indian/Indo European word root?  For some reason, I had thought that Mana in the RPG's came from either a Hindu or Bhuddist term or phrase.  I might be thinking about some other term, caffeine level low at the moment. 

My Websters 9th Collegiate has only two entries, though, a rather convoluted 'Melanesian related to Hawaiian and Maori,' initial English usage ~1843.

1.  Power of elemental forces of nature embodied in an object or person (Like an Elemental Druid!)

2.  moral authority, or prestige (Akin to having "big or powerful medicine" for Plains Indian)

It hadn't occured to me until last year actually, despite having seen it as early as 1990, but after someone linked to the word on an Internet-based pronounciation guide, the parts of the puzzle slipped into place. The connection became pretty obvious.

In re tatoos, IIRC my nautical heritage, the habit of tatooing themselves spread rapidly among sailors who had visited the South Pacific.  The peoples of many of the various Island families indulged.  What I don't recall is whether or not that is where it started.  I really ought to know this, given my years at sea . . . one of my books at  home spells out how the whalers were some of the original American sailors to sport tatoos.

At one point roughly a thousand years ago some of the Polynesian people were traveling quite freely about the Pacific. Where specific elements of each culture started is anyone's guess, but the only other tatooing I'm aware of in the Pacific is Tongan which puts the art on the thigh and buttocks. Maori moko is a predominantly facial art.

I suppose various people of the Pacific were swapping cultural elements from time to time.