About Us

We're proud to celebrate our Lakota way of life, and for many years have worked closely with Mita Oyate Cultural Society— an organization dedicated to the preservation of Lakota language and culture. We're grateful to be a part of something bigger, and working with Lakota medicines is really close to our hearts. 

Over the years, we've seen many of our friends and relatives get well through traditional medicines and ceremonies. We spent a few struggling with our own health, and also found wellness by returning to the original remedies of our people.

Because of our own positive experiences, we began bottling traditional plant medicines into tinctures. That's how Native Botanicals started out. By doing this we discovered that it allowed us a good way to share these medicines with our relatives, elders, and community members year-round. When we welcomed our own children, it also inspired us to use natural remedies that we could feel good about giving to them, too.

One of the greatest divides between Native American healing and modern medicine, is acknowledging spirituality and connectedness as part of the process. Medicine today focuses only on the science of the physical body, and treats illnesses as separate, disconnected events. 

In Lakota philosophy, the medicines are our relatives. We're grateful for the healing they offer us, and when we harvest and use medicine, we ask permission from Mother Earth and make an offering. In this way, we acknowledge Mitakuye Oyasin, meaning “all my relations” and our connection to all spirits can encourage good health.

To be well we must care for our bodies, but also our emotional wellness, and the balance we have with our environment and others around us. The spirit is an inseparable part of wicozani (having good health + spiritual wealth) and living in harmony with all creation.

We also believe that as Mother Earth gives to us, we should give back to her. When we opened Native Botanicals we decided to dedicate a portion of profits to replanting projects. Every item sold helps us reintroduce native medicines to places where they’ve disappeared or have been over-harvested. It’s one way we’re working to prepare for the future. 

Lastly, there is a lot of misinformation out there about indigenous medicines and how to use them. We believe that as native people it is important to share our own experiences and ways that we've been taught—so that we can ensure these teachings and information will not be lost. We are grateful to our ancestors and mentors for freely sharing this knowledge. By offering what we can, we can help give future generations the tools they will need to thrive. By returning to traditions and reconnecting to our land, we can all continue to heal together. 

We’re grateful for this opportunity, this way of living, and for the chance to continue healing along the way.

Thank you for reading our story and for being a part of the journey with us! We wish all of you wicozani—good health for you and your families.

Wopila (thank you)
Shilo + Shawna 

Learn more about our projects and Grow With Us! 

We'd like to acknowledge our mentor, Warfield Moose and Mita Oyate Cultural Society. Wopila  (thank you) for allowing us this opportunity. Learn more about Mita Oyate Cultural Society

"Our people have survived centuries using our traditional medicines and ceremonies, which we can’t overlook as a way to find natural healing in the modern world.  We have so much knowledge and wisdom that we’ve barely tapped into. It makes me very happy to see Native Botanicals bringing wellness back in a modern form but through our traditional ways."  — Warfield Moose Jr, Lakota spiritual leader and author the The Lakota Philosophy of Healing Through Song