YORKTON – As National Gorgeous Grandma Day approaches on July 23, Grandma Sherry Whitehawk is celebrating the lessons passed down by her own grandmothers and sharing them with thousands who know her simply as Grandma Sherry.
For Yorkton's own Grandma Sherry Whitehawk, however, the day is about something deeper.
With more than 250,000 followers on TikTok and a growing audience that affectionately calls her "Grandma Sherry," Whitehawk has become a grandmother figure to thousands. Yet despite her online fame, the lessons she shares are rooted in the teachings of her own grandmothers.
"It's not just about the grandmothers who are here with us today," Whitehawk said. "It's about all the grandmothers who came before us. The ones we knew and the ones we never met. They're still part of us."
Recently, Whitehawk made a special journey to her family's traditional Flower Day gathering in Sioux Valley, Man. The annual tradition involves bringing food to loved ones' graves and sharing that food with someone who reminds you of the person being honoured.
This year, something unexpected caught her attention.
"Around my grandmother's grave was growing prairie sage," she said. "I took some, and those will be for special smudges."
For Whitehawk, finding the sage felt meaningful, a reminder that her grandmother's presence continues to guide her.
Family has always been central to her life. Whitehawk is grandmother to eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, ranging from young boys still living nearby to grown grandchildren building careers across Western Canada.
"I had my grandchildren in stages," she laughed. "My oldest grandchild is 33, and my youngest grandchild is six."
While her biological grandchildren hold a special place in her heart, Whitehawk's role has expanded far beyond her own family.
Many people who follow her online send letters, messages and comments describing difficult childhoods, foster care experiences or fractured relationships with their own grandparents.
"Those are the ones that make me cry," she said. "Some tell me they never had grandparents, or that their grandmother wasn't kind to them. They'll ask me, 'Can I call you Grandma?' And I always say, 'Absolutely.'"
Whitehawk still seems surprised by the impact she has on strangers.
"I've had people come up to me crying, hugging me and just holding me," she said. "And I hold them. That's beautiful."
She estimates she may have more than 100,000 unofficial grandchildren across her social media platforms.
"A lot of them call me Grandma," she said.
Ironically, the name that has made her famous wasn't her choice.
Her oldest granddaughter, Bethany, began calling her "Grandma Sherry" as a toddler. Whitehawk tried encouraging a traditional Indigenous name instead, but Bethany refused to budge.
"Once she started calling me Grandma Sherry, that was it," Whitehawk said. "The other grandchildren followed, and then when Bethany put me on TikTok, she called me Grandma Sherry there too. Now everybody calls me Grandma Sherry."
As National Gorgeous Grandma Day approaches, Whitehawk hopes people will take time to reflect on the lessons their grandmothers taught them.
For her, those teachings align closely with traditional Indigenous values and the Seven Sacred Teachings.
"My grandmother's biggest teaching was, 'Treat people the way you want to be treated,'" she said. "That's respect."
She believes true respect is not determined by how others behave toward us, but by how we choose to behave toward them.
"If someone is mean to you, you shouldn’t be mean back," she said. "You can walk away."
Her grandmother also taught forgiveness, kindness and compassion, values Whitehawk still carries with her today.
"Love covers everything," she said. "Bitterness doesn't do anything for us."
Whitehawk knows not every family story is perfect. She shared stories of hardship, discrimination and difficult chapters in her own family's history. Yet she chooses to focus on understanding and healing rather than resentment.
"When I focus on grandmother teachings and the grandmother spirit, I become soft," she said. "The rest doesn't really matter."
That message is one she hopes readers will carry with them.
"Remember the grandmothers who are here with us," she said. "Treasure them. But also remember the grandmothers who have gone on to the spirit world. The virtues in your family came from those grandmothers."
As she reflected on the women who shaped her life, Whitehawk smiled.
"Everybody loves their grandmother," she said. "And when we think about our grandmothers, those teachings live on in us. Then we pass them on to our children and grandchildren."
For Grandma Sherry, that's what makes a grandmother truly gorgeous, not appearance, fame or popularity, but a lifetime spent teaching love.
