Rose Island Farm is an Indigenous family-owned farm in southeast Tacoma. We prioritize and center people of culture and all our Indigenous kin.
Our farm is located in the territory of the Puyallup Indian Tribe and their coastal Salish kin. We lovingly tend care for herbs, foods, and create herbal supports for community and tribal relatives in the greater Puget Sound. We collaborated with Canoe Journey Herbalists to design and provide a free herbal care clinic at the Tahoma Indian Center during COVID. Melissa hosts traditional skill shares for community at the farm.
Our farm is named after the village that Melissa comes from in northern BC, Lax kw’alaams or “Island of Wild Roses.”
Our farm logo was designed by Nuxalk artist Danika Saunders.
Melissa Meyer, Tsimshian First Nation
Melissa is a clinical herbalist, community trained plant practitioner, ear Acupuncture Detoxification practitioner, and land/people/animal steward. She practices on the land of the Puyallup People. Melissa works from a trauma-informed lens and believes that reclaiming our relationships with plant medicines and our bodies is a sovereign act of resistance and (re)membering.
Pierce County Conservation District’s Educator of the Year (2022)
Spirit of Reciprocity Award by the Potlatch Fund (Seattle, WA) (2024)
In the media
Melissa’s Previous and Ongoing Collaborations
Partnered with Canoe Journey Herbalists to provide a FREE Community Herbal Clinic and apothecary in 2020 during COVID
Served as a Traditional Indian Medicine Practitioner for the Seattle Indian Health Board (2017-2020)
Co-created the Traditional Medicine for and with the Nisqually Tribe, and currently works with the Culture Department sharing First Foods teachings
Served on the board of the Tahoma Indian Center (2022-2024)
Served as Traditional Health Faculty on the Indian Country ECHO Trans & Gender-Affirming Care Learning Series (2023-2024)
Serves on the board of the PNW BIPOC Land Trust (Seattle, WA) (2024-present)
Serves on the Wapato Island Farm board (2024-present)
As a community-trained herbalist, I am eternally grateful for those who have taught and continue to teach me the ways of care, reciprocity and community. I am grateful to and humbled by the wisdom of my ancestors that continues to be passed to me by my Mother, my relatives, and my deep ancestral lineages of community. I also lift up the following people who’ve opened their homes, memories, and practices to me and my family as we walk this path together:
My family & relatives
Canoe Journey Herbalists
Edna Deerunner
Karyn Sanders
Valerie Segrest
Jean Madrone
Victoria Buffalo-Robe
Jodall Mattson
Montana Honeylion
Shayne Case
Indigenous Herbalist Pathways
Nitanis Desjarlais
Rhonda Schooner
Dionne Paul
Lori Snyder
Jennifer Rose
Marie Serna
Letti Dogheart
Itai Jeffries