The literal meaning of the Polynesian word is "power" or "strength" and so the concept is similar to that of mana.
In traditional Māori belief, there is no specific word for "religion" because the natural and supernatural world are seen as one.
[3] In other Austronesian cultures, cognates of atua include the Polynesian aitu, Micronesian aniti, Bunun hanitu, Filipino and Tao anito, and Malaysian and Indonesian hantu or antu.
[4] In popular culture, Atua is the name that is used to refer to the deity which the character Angie Yonaga worships in the English dub of Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony.
[8] However, since Christianity was introduced to Samoa in 1830[9] , the existence and belief of these deities were soon forgotten by the Samoan people, leaving only their myths and stories.