As the smudge smoke rises on Sherry Whitehawk’s TikTok videos, she’s making space to spread a message of love.
The 69-year-old based out of Yorkton, Sask., about 175 kilometres northeast of Regina, is better known as Grandma Sherry to her 120,000 followers.
She is Dakota from Sioux Valley Dakota Nation in Manitoba but is registered with the Cote First Nation in Saskatchewan.
Her videos blend food and traditional knowledge all in her effort to spread some grandmotherly wisdom.
“I love doing this, I absolutely do, and I love that people are connecting with the kindness,” said Whitehawk.
She started her TikTok account as a way to share wisdom with her grandkids who live in other provinces but people from all over the globe have connected to her work.
Her TikTok video comment sections are filled with people from as far as South Africa, Ukraine and New Zealand expressing love and connection to her work.
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The feelings are mutual, said Whitehawk.
“When I first was doing them, I thought of my grandchildren sitting there,” said Whitehawk.
“Now when I do it, I think about the thousands of grandchildren I have out there and I speak to them.”
Whitehawk said when she was growing up she wanted to be a teacher and spent her whole career as a mental health and addictions worker. She spent years helping people through addictions and trauma and doing intervention work.
“I am giving that message of walking in a peaceful, good way,” said Whitehawk.
“Every morning you get up and say ‘Ampetu ake nina washte‘ which in my language means ‘Another beautiful day has come,’ and we’re grateful for that.”
Next up, she said she wants to build out her platform on YouTube and Instagram.
She admits the technology was a challenge at first but with the help of her family she’s learned about content creation.
Her granddaughter Bethany Anderson was one of the people she turned to for help.
The 32-year-old said she’s lucky to help her grandma when she can and an added bonus is she gets to eat some of the meals.
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Anderson said she’s proud of her grandma for sharing her wisdom.
“People really hold it close to their hearts,” said Anderson.
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