Hello Peoples of all nations!

I am Cynthia King, a Lumbee woman of the Cheraw people of North Carolina, Back Swamp Clan.

I have studied and worked with food and herbs for over 30 years. I am a trained  medicine gatherer, Traditional Native Health Facilitator, Moon Lodge Caretaker, Doula, Mother of Five, Forest activist, entrepreneur, owner of THE HERB SHED and creator of NATIVE FOREST REMEDIES.

I have educated  hundreds of people in the use of herbs and natural alternatives for their health and well being.

I have designed several herbal programs and workshops over the last decade including the on-going Native Aromatherapy Series, and “Kitchen, Garden ,Wild and Essential,” soon to become ebooks.

“I am always honored for the opportunity to teach and learn.”

My people are from North Carolina, and my relatives from other tribes include the Lakota and Dine. I reside in the Pacific Northwest, Silverton, Oregon.

I work with the Plant Nations of this region…from the San Juan Islands, to Malibu, California, but mostly in Oregon’s Temperate Rain Forests, Pine Forests, High Desserts, and coastal range.

My purpose for creating NATIVE FOOD AND MEDICINE is to serve the people with the knowledge and wisdom of our interdependency with plant Nations for our health and help in our everyday life… keeping alive and present our care taking of Native plant systems for their regeneration. It is my commitment to our cultural and genetic relationship to our food and medicines that will, I have been taught… sustain our future generations in good health. Living in balance with our original instructions to care for the Fire, the Water, the Rock and the Green… our lives depend on these elements and powers.

As a mother and grandmother, my Prayer for which I fasted for four days is…that my children and future generations live in good health with joy and happiness. That depends on the good health of all the faces still emerging from the mud of all peoples… the Stone people, the Rooted, the Green, the Finned, the Creepy Crawlers, the Winged, the Four-Legged, and the Two-Legged.  So this prayer is now in creation… I invite you to share in its new beginning with the knowledge of the ancestors, starting with what is now.

Oh, Mita kuye oyasin,
( All my Relations)

What you can look forward to on NATIVE FOOD AND MEDICINE is postings on seasonal gathering of herbs, some from the wild, some from the garden, some from your  kitchen cupboard or local markets… the “how to” process them and turn them into food or medicine, and tried and true recipes so you can experiment yourself.

I can’t seem to talk about herbs with out bringing to conversation their nature and how I relate to them. In other words expect some stories (knowledge) on what they do and how.

My desire is to show you how easy and practical it is to make subtle changes  using herbs and natural foods to create more health for you and the earth systems.

On the average  our goal is to post one gathering, one food recipe, and one herbal remedy recipe with the “how to” about once a week.

Self sufficiency begins by doing things  by your own volition… the need is ours and the remedy is ours to create…the plants have always helped.