Born in the United States, Samantha Deere lived in the state of California, the Northeast United States and India, where she explored local healing traditions and practices first-hand. This grew her interest in the herbal traditions from around the world associated with world views and spiritual practices to approach the health of body and mind. For 17 years, Samantha lives in the United States working as an Herbalist practitioner, educator, and writer for a medical journal and online publisher. She specialized in healing herbs and spices, their history, and their various use in cultures worldwide. As SOVERESSENCE approached her to write about Native American Herbalism, she was instantly interested. She has studied this topic in-depth and was aided to uncover the secrets of Native American herbalism by her long-time shamanic friend she regularly consults for her own herbal practice if she needs advice and an outside view on the problems of her patients. SOVERESSENCE aims to grow a community of culturally interested people that want to learn about different approaches to health and wellbeing from cultures around the world.