If you can improve drainage in the area, try native huckleberries. Both the evergreen (Vaccinium ovatum) and deciduous (Vaccinium parvifolium) are woodsy, shade plants. You could also grow ferns for fiddleheads - ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris) and cinnamon or royal fern (Osmunda cinnemomea or O. regalis) produce edible shoots.

These will all be happy in moist - but not wet or saturated - soils.

Here's a post I created earlier this year on the same topic. I have a mostly shady yard and with a bunch of natives (mostly edibles like berries), and this post lists how well they can do in shade. You'll want to scroll down to the bottom for the updated list. Lots of good advice from others on that thread too.

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/nwest/msg042059149808.html

Here is a link that might be useful: Shade thread

thank you to gardengal48 and mooserider for your very helpful suggestions! i knew someone on here would know what to do. i'm going with berry bushes (huckleberry and salmonberry with some ferns (love ferns). now i'm on the hunt for a nursery in my area (snohomish) that carries native plants.
thank you, again! lanni

Attend the free plant swap called Green Elephant in Redmond 1st Sat of November & you might pick up some native berry shrubs. Info gets posted ahead of time on this forum or the Pacific Northwest Garden exchange.

Plus fall plantings don't need regular watering because it rains then.