Since she was very little, Barbara Salvatore wanted to make stories in words and pictures for the whole world. She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts, Salutatorian, from the School of Visual Arts, New York and spent her life learning about plants and horses and telling stories. 

Big Horse Woman, first in a series of four epic novels, was a Finalist in the Leapfrog Press Literary Fiction Contest, and Winner of Chanticleer International Book Award - Prairie/First Nations, Laramie Prize for Western Fiction. Big Horse Woman, born in a dream, sparked Barbara’s interest in Ponca Language, because she wanted to Name the Plants the way Big Horse Woman would. This led to her becoming a lifetime student of the Ponca Language.

Magghie, book two, was a Finalist in Chanticleer International Book Awards, Laramie Prize for Western Fiction, and excerpts have been published in literary journals, anthologies, and Nebraska Life magazine. While writing Magghie, Barbara was also run over by a horse-drawn vehicle, and likewise, had to relearn how to walk. With the support of family and friends from four directions, she was able to move to Nebraska, continue her studies, and complete her novels. The simultaneous publication of Big Horse Woman and Magghie is the culmination of the dream that started it all. These two books are part of a four book collection, which will see two more books join up in 2023, The Trail, and Together To Gather .

An Herbalist, Big-Horse-keeper, and Language teacher, Barbara offers classes and consultation in traditional Plant Medicine and Horse Care, and advocates for the revitalization of native language as a core element of cultural preservation and identity. She continues to scribble in her Dream Journal, which she started keeping at age thirteen. 

From bighorsewoman.com