Paiwei Family

The Paiwei [paɪ y] family of the 26th century was a family known most for their military service, culminating most in Waimarie Paiwei, a decorated Human-Covenant War special forces soldier. The Paiwei family had maintained a long standing tradition of public service over the course of several centuries, both as civilian leadership, teaching, policing, but often military service. Nikau Paiwei, father of Waimarie, instilled this fervor for service as children when he spoke of the family's warrior history, claiming that the family had served in "every conflict placed before them."
== Early Family History ==
The Paiwei family is a majority ethnic Māori, with some English ancestry. Tracing their lineage to the Ngāi Tahu Iwi (or tribe) of the South Island of New Zealand. All members of the Ngāi Tahu Iwi are able to trace their traditional lineage to Tahupōtiki of the Ngāti Porou. As of the 26th century, the Paiwei family had lived in New Zealand for roughly 1200 years.
The first physical record of the Paiwei family comes in the 19 century, from one Anaru Paewai's marriage certificate to Hine Kahuarangi. At this time, the Paiwei's name was still spelled "Paewai". While both spellings are pronounced the same, "Paiwei" appears to be a clerical error from the early 20th century that the family kept, originating when one Joseph Paiwei enlisted in the first World War. Joseph Paiwei would be injured in Europe, losing an arm and leg when hit by a grenade. His biography "Te Hokowhitu toa: My Sacrifice and Pain" has been a favorite of Pioneer Battalion aficionados for several centuries as a very visceral and frank solider's account, particularly since Joseph Paiwei's father had been considered a member of Māori rebellion not a few decades before. Joseph Paiwei also appears to be the first Paiwei family member to live in Christchurch, proper, where the family would remain for the next few centuries.
Joseph Paiwei's son, Jason Harata Paiwei would serve in several conflicts in the 1940's and 1950's, and is the earliest of ancestors that began to instill a generational warrior code. Besides his warrior ancestors, Jason Harata Paiwei would be the first "career soldier" in the modern sense. He would also write a memoir called "My Father's Son: A Lifetime of Service" which chronicles his military career during the early decades of the Cold War.
With better records beginning in the 20th century, the Paiwei family history becomes more clear and indicates a greater trend of military service with Paiwei's serving in wars and conflicts of the 20th, 21st, and 22nd centuries.
==== Notable Early Family: ====
* Joseph Paiwei (1899-1978), Private (WWI), Author.
* Jason Harata Paiwei (1922-1999), Sergeant (WWII, Malayan Emergency, Korean War), Author.
* John Ari Paiwei (1979-2046), Naval Captain (Gulf War), Professor of Military Science/History.
* Aiali'i Paiwei-Anderson (2002-2097), Rear Admiral (Wars in the Levant), Female retainer of family name.
* Tama Paiwei (2144-2207), UNDF Marine Captain (Rainforest Wars, Mars Campaign, Jovian Moons Campaigns, Interplanetary War)
* Christopher Tangaroa Paiwei 2399-2476, UNSC Army Sergeant Reservist, Mayor of Christchurch
== Contemporary Family History ==
While the wider Paiwei family line is spread across several regions of Earth and her Colonies, the lineage that has harder contemporary documentation begins with Christopher Tangaroa Paiwei. Christopher took a particularly more literal stance on the need for his family to be public servants by not only becoming a UNSC Army Reservist, but also by being elected as the Mayor of Christchurch in 2450. Christopher is the great-grandfather to the current generation of the Paiwei family (his son being Nikau Tama Sr., and his grandson being Nikau Tama Jr.). Being born in a time of particular peace, he felt as though allowing for the state to train it's citizens only served as a general good, and he encouraged his son to also serve. This culminated in a generation of Paiwei children born from 2495 to 2520 almost universally serving in the armed forces, and all of them siblings.
Nikau Tama Jr. was born in 2480 and was the only child of his father Nikau Tama Sr. and Julieanne Tuati. Christopher, his grandfather, had passed away before he was born and thus learned a lot about the Paiwei family from his father and paternal grandmother, as well as the also majority Maori Tuati family of his mother. By his teen years, though both families were very proud of their heritage, he recognized that the Paiwei's were that and more so. After his father taught him about his long familial history tied to Military and Public service, he was caught hook-line-and-sinker in the idea of committing himself to public service, and in the fledgling era of Insurrection, it seemed he would now, more than ever, be tested in this regard. 
Nikau Jr. would marry his Secondary School sweetheart, Marcella Black, in 2499 after when they completed school. The two had been first introduced at a gathering for the then mayor of Christchurch. Though not currently active in politics, the Paiwei family still had political connections in the city and surrounding Canterbury region. The Black family, however, was a historically powerful political family of former Mayors, Vice Mayors, Councillors, and Representatives. Christopher Paiwei was the only major politician in recent memory from the Paiwei family and was very popular as a public servant coming from a Blue Collar background. As such, Nikau Jr. and Marcella were introduced in a dubious nature by Black's grandparents who were looking for political clout by a familial allegiance. Things didn't add up for the two until much later when the met as classmates, and thus equals. When he was 18 before he went to train in the UNSC Army. Marcella would go on to University to study Law and Public Administration. 
Over the course of the next 2 decades all of the current Paiwei children would be born.
===Profiles===
====Nikau Tama Paiwei Jr.====
====Marcella Marie Paiwei (Black)====
====Lucas "Luke" Materepo Paiwei====
====Tama Manu Paiwei====
====Marcella "Marcy" Louisa Todd (Paiwei)====
====Niko Christopher Tangaroa Paiwei====
====Waimarie "Lucky" Ataahua Paiwei====
====Jericho Patoromu Paiwei====