The word "kawanatanga" was used to translate "sovereignty" and "rangatiratanga" to mean "possession".
It is true that "rangatira" has always meant chief but the word we are talking about is "rangatiratanga" .
There is widespread confusion on these terms but if you look up "ownership" in an English/Maori dictionary, there it is -- "rangatiratanga".
Just look at articles 1 and 2 of the treaty in English and Maori.
Here they are here, carefully cut and pasted so that readers can see clearly what is meant, with the words carefully uppercased:
Article first
The chiefs of the Confederation of the United Tribes and the other chiefs who have not joined the confederation, cede to the Queen of England for ever the entire SOVEREIGNTY [sic] of their country.
Ko te tuatahi
Ko nga Rangatira o te wakaminenga me nga Rangatira katoa hoki ki hai i uru ki taua wakaminenga ka tuku rawa atu ki te Kuini o Ingarani ake tonu atu – te KAWANATANGA katoa o o ratou wenua.
Article second
The Queen of England confirms and guarantees to the chiefs and the tribes and to ALL the people of New Zealand, the POSSESSION of their lands, dwellings and all their property. But the chiefs of the Confederation of United Tribes and the other chiefs grant to the Queen, the exclusive rights of purchasing such lands as the proprietors thereof may be disposed to sell at such prices as may be agreed upon between them and the person appointed by the Queen to purchase from them.
Ko te tuarua
Ko te Kuini o Ingarani ka wakarite ka wakaae ki nga Rangitira ki nga hapu – ki nga tangata katoa o Nu Tirani te tino RANGATIRATANGA o o ratou wenua o ratou kainga me o ratou taonga katoa. Otiia ko nga Rangatira o te wakaminenga me nga Rangatira katoa atu ka tuku ki te Kuini te hokonga o era wahi wenua e pai ai te tangata nona te Wenua – ki te ritenga o te utu e wakaritea ai e ratou ko te kai hoko e meatia nei e te Kuini hei kai hoko mona
Both"kawanatanga" and "rangatiratanga" were coined by missionaries to convey concepts outside of the Maori experience.
True, the translation was done in one night, but as you can see, there was not a great deal to translate.
Williams father and son were fluent in Maori, and the Maori vocabulary of 1840 was a fraction of what it is today, after many words were transliterated from English.
The meaning of the treaty is clear in the English text because the treaty was drafted in English and translated into Maori.
What is more, it is clear from missionary William Colenso's account of the debate on February 5, 1840, that the chiefs clearly understood this meaning and some had difficulty agreeing, but at the end of the day they figured the benefits outweighed the costs and they signed up to the new deal.
It has become confusing since the 1980s when claimant/Waitangi Tribunal member Hugh Kawharu redefined these key words in the treaty -- "kawanatanga" and "rangatiratanga" to create a treaty that was purported to grant to the governor the right to govern settlers while letting the chiefs carry on being chiefs.
That is clearly nonsense, did not happen, and was not what the chiefs signed up to because they really did not want other chiefs carrying on as they did because too many people were being killed.
If they did not understand what they were signing and still thought they were chiefs then why did cannibalism end and the chiefs free their Maori slaves?