About Maka + Co.
Responsible Ingredients
Our ingredients are locally harvested in the wild forests of northern New Hampshire or grown in our half-acre White Mountains garden.
Due to a naturally limited supply of quality ingredients and the short growing season, everything we offer is made in our boutique apothecary and offered in limited collections from one season to the next.
Any carriers that we use to hold the bioactive ingredients of wild and cultivated plant matter are organic and ethically sourced.
Our Story
Inspired by Makȟá (Grandmother Earth in Lakota), Maka + Co. was born of a desire to honor our ancestors and care for our own using the old ways of healing.
Our maternal grandmothers came from Scottish and Irish stock. They forged a path on the rugged and sparse high plains of eastern Wyoming under the shadow of Devil’s Tower – a sacred site to the Lakota. They were midwives and healers, growing their herbs and making their poultices and tinctures from scratch. They were the ones who were called when a child’s appearance was imminent and the nearest medical doctor wouldn’t make it in time for a homebirth. Modern generations continued the healing path with nursing careers and vigorous gardening and foraging.
Our paternal grandmothers were lost to us. We have no way to recapture their teachings. To honor them, we immerse ourselves in what’s left of the Lakota language and the vital stories, songs, and culinary practices of those Ogalala mothers, aunties, and grandmothers. We share this path of reclamation with our daughters.
Indigenous People were not considered American citizens until 1924. In 1978, the Indian Child Welfare Act set standards for the placement of Native children removed from their homes. It was the first federal protection for Native children. Up until that point, approximately 25% to 30% of all Native children were removed from their families for a litany of reasons.
More than 80% of the removed children were adopted or sold to non-native people. Many were forced into residential schools. Their hair was chopped off and they were banned from speaking their native tongue.
Besides dogs and horses, Indigenous people are the only race in North America defined by blood quantum. Blood quantum was a system developed by the federal government and placed on the indigenous people to limit their citizenship. Several Native nations continue to use it today as part of their citizenship requirements.
There is no way to account for this loss – both culturally and personally. So we learn everything we can. We honor each of our grandmothers each time we craft our small-batch, wildcrafted, foraged and locally-grown apothecary items.
Our Mission
With every product we develop, we place great importance on working with the abundance of nature that surrounds us, as generations did long ago before the advancement of the Industrial and Digital Eras. We aim to recapture the old healing ways before even more herbal recipes become lost. And with every step in this journey, we honor and remember the generations of strong knowledgeable women that came before us and took care of the ones they loved.
Sustainability, a decreased carbon footprint, natural non-toxic ingredients, and taking only what we need are important philosophies at Maka + Co. Because of that, our batches are limited and carefully curated from one season to the next.
BECOME A PART OF OUR SUCCESS. WE DONATE 15% OF OUR NET INCOME TO ADVOCACY AND CONSERVATION. CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE.
TINCTURES
Explore our small-batch boutique collection of wildcrafted herbal tinctures.
Bitters
Bitters date back to ancient Egypt. These herbal aromatics soothe digestion and add complexity to cocktails.
OILS
Explore our small-batch boutique collection of wildcrafted botanical oils
Herbs
Each item in our herbal collection is lovingly grown in our half-acre garden and dried with care.
