Arafed man in brown robe standing in a forest with a stick

His Grace Duke Etienne Lambert claims an aristocratic French bloodline tracing back to minor nobility in the Loire Valley where for generations second sons often entered clergy service. But the bold young Frère Etienne grew disenchanted with ecclesiastical orthodoxy and scandalized family by fleeing across the Atlantic to attach with Jesuit missionaries assigned to colonial Quebec frontier outposts charged with converting the Huron, Algonquin and Iroquois tribes encountered inland from the St. Lawrence. Although witnessing firsthand the devastating impacts of early contact leading to deadly outbreaks of smallpox and other diseases transmitted unwittingly by voyageur expedition carriers, Frère Etienne committed to mastering indigenous ways, medicines and lifecycles governed by celestial calendars, lunar phases, hunting/fishing seasons and symbolic dream translation. Over two decades trekking forest pathways far beyond Montréal and the mission hub at Sainte-Marie among the Hurons, the maverick holy man shed clerical robes for buckskins and fully inhabited his vision as enlightened secular emissary facilitating dialogue between tribes now reckoning with an influx of Anglo-Germanic pioneers exploiting Michigan interior lands through treaties. From his well positioned Glen Arbor sanctuary overlooking the Lake Michigan shoreline near Big Rapids, the former Duke Etienne, now honored as Elder White Deer by regional Odawa clans, continues his lifelong work fostering intercultural common ground, leading ceremonies petitioning manitou spirits dwelling deeply within groves of ancient white cedars, offering wisdom and fellowship to all who respect the balance of land stewardship.