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Some of the pakeha branches are pretty short, which I guess is an aspect of this recent discussion about individualism/collectivism and culture. Like, I know my middle name is Haereroa because that was my dad's mum's dad's dad's dad's mum's dad's brother's name and he adopted my dad's mum's dad's dad's dad after HIS dad died unexpectedly. I know that my mum's dad's dad's mum was executed by the British Army and buried in a mass grave at Orakau. The brown branches of the whanau never forget anything. On the white branches it's "Hey, Gran's maiden name was Sheehan, right? That sounds Irish, was her family from Ireland?" "No idea."
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