Kia ora tātou. My name is Debbie McCauley and I live in Aotearoa New Zealand, the first country in the world to see the sunrise each day! My first ancestors arrived here in 1841, the year following the signing of our founding document, Te Tiriti o Waitangi (the Treaty of Waitangi). Living in a South Pacific paradise is a wonderful and inspiring thing... I am the author of several books for children as well as articles, essays, and poetry. My interests include history, research, children's literature, whakapapa (genealogy), reducing my carbon footprint, women's rights, social justice, reading, and caring for Papatūānuku (Mother Earth) through the joyful chaos of gardening and the rewilding of my backyard. My blog can be found at this link: https://debbiemccauleyauthor.wordpress.com.

I have worked as an historian and genealogist for a 20 years and have had an interest in whakapapa (genealogy) for over 40 years. I have physically cleaned many family graves in the Bay of Plenty and Waikato areas and have relatives in cemeteries throughout Aotearoa New Zealand. I am more than happy to transfer memorial pages to loving homes and people who have a connection to them. We can do this with kindness and respect. Some of the memorial pages I look after I am simply acting as kaitiaki for (guardian, keeper, preserver, conservator, protector), until they are claimed by whānau (family group, extended family, friends without kinship ties). I would like to see memorials for people from Aotearoa New Zealand, especially soldiers, held by people who live here. My special interest areas, and ones I would be more than happy to receive management of memorial pages for, include:

• 1918 Influenza Pandemic – New Zealand victims,
• Katikati people - one of the places my ancestors lived,
• New Zealand Disaster victims,
• New Zealand Suffragists – I was on the Suffrage125 Tauranga Committee, see my book Eliza and the White Camellia,
• New Zealand Wars – see my book Taratoa and the Code of Conduct,
• New Zealand's Roll of Shame – honouring our murdered children, virtual cemetery here https://www.findagrave.com/virtual-cemetery/1403849
• Pioneer women in New Zealand,
• Tauranga cemeteries, followed by New Zealand cemeteries,
• Tauranga & Bay of Plenty people – this is where I live and breathe,
• Treaty of Waitangi Signatories – see my book The Treaty of Waitangi in Tauranga,
• World War I (1914-1918) – I was on the WW100 Tauranga Committee.

Kia tau te rangimārie o te Rangi e tū nei, o Papatūānuku e takoto nei, o te Taiao e awhi nei, ki runga i a tātou. Tīhei mauri ora! (May the peace of the sky above and of Mother Earth below and of the all-embracing universe rest upon us all. Behold, the essence of life!)

Kia ora tātou. My name is Debbie McCauley and I live in Aotearoa New Zealand, the first country in the world to see the sunrise each day! My first ancestors arrived here in 1841, the year following the signing of our founding document, Te Tiriti o Waitangi (the Treaty of Waitangi). Living in a South Pacific paradise is a wonderful and inspiring thing... I am the author of several books for children as well as articles, essays, and poetry. My interests include history, research, children's literature, whakapapa (genealogy), reducing my carbon footprint, women's rights, social justice, reading, and caring for Papatūānuku (Mother Earth) through the joyful chaos of gardening and the rewilding of my backyard. My blog can be found at this link: https://debbiemccauleyauthor.wordpress.com.

I have worked as an historian and genealogist for a 20 years and have had an interest in whakapapa (genealogy) for over 40 years. I have physically cleaned many family graves in the Bay of Plenty and Waikato areas and have relatives in cemeteries throughout Aotearoa New Zealand. I am more than happy to transfer memorial pages to loving homes and people who have a connection to them. We can do this with kindness and respect. Some of the memorial pages I look after I am simply acting as kaitiaki for (guardian, keeper, preserver, conservator, protector), until they are claimed by whānau (family group, extended family, friends without kinship ties). I would like to see memorials for people from Aotearoa New Zealand, especially soldiers, held by people who live here. My special interest areas, and ones I would be more than happy to receive management of memorial pages for, include:

• 1918 Influenza Pandemic – New Zealand victims,
• Katikati people - one of the places my ancestors lived,
• New Zealand Disaster victims,
• New Zealand Suffragists – I was on the Suffrage125 Tauranga Committee, see my book Eliza and the White Camellia,
• New Zealand Wars – see my book Taratoa and the Code of Conduct,
• New Zealand's Roll of Shame – honouring our murdered children, virtual cemetery here https://www.findagrave.com/virtual-cemetery/1403849
• Pioneer women in New Zealand,
• Tauranga cemeteries, followed by New Zealand cemeteries,
• Tauranga & Bay of Plenty people – this is where I live and breathe,
• Treaty of Waitangi Signatories – see my book The Treaty of Waitangi in Tauranga,
• World War I (1914-1918) – I was on the WW100 Tauranga Committee.

Kia tau te rangimārie o te Rangi e tū nei, o Papatūānuku e takoto nei, o te Taiao e awhi nei, ki runga i a tātou. Tīhei mauri ora! (May the peace of the sky above and of Mother Earth below and of the all-embracing universe rest upon us all. Behold, the essence of life!)