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Shelley Essaunce-Lamarche
I graduated from the Native Community & Social Development Program at Georgian College in Barrie, Ontario in the fall of 1998.   I then got a contract with the Barrie Area Native Advisory Circle as the Aboriginal Digital Collections Researcher.   It was fun travelling to the communities, meeting people and making connections.   I have a deeper sense of community, more understanding of our people and it has proven to be very rewarding.   I have enjoyed hearing the stories that were shared with me, people opened their hearts to me and my life has been enriched by this process.   It is reaffirming to hear our story of our past.      After completing this contract, other doors have opened for me and I will now consider other employment in the area of research and writing.   I intend to continue writing about my Grandfather and the effects of Residential school on our family.      I also work as the Human Relations Coordinator for the Native Women & Wellness Conference East.   I am a founding board member of the Enaahtig Healing Lodge & Learning Centre located in rural Victoria Harbour, Ontario.   I am a member of the Georgian Bay Native Women’s Association.      My father's family is from Beausoleil First Nation. I am from the Otter Clan. I have a family of five, two boys, a husband and a Great Uncle. We live in a cobblestone cottage in the country among huge oak trees where deer can be seen prancing through the back yard periodically.   We plant a garden in the spring, enjoy the fresh vegetables in the summer, preserve the food in the fall and warm up by the wood stove in the winter.