It is generally accepted that the word kwanatanga was not a good translation into te reo Mori of the term sovereignty. The word that would have conveyed the idea more accurately would have been mana but that was not used most likely because:

a.Henry Williams and his son who provided the translation were not sufficiently fluent in te reo. b.Kwanatanga was already known to Mori through translation of the Bible into te reo. c.Henry Williams and his son who provided the translation were sufficiently fluent in te reo to know that no rangatiratanga would agree to cede his or her mana.