From Bannock to Broadcast TV – Grandma Sherry Serves Culture on APTN

That bannock video, since posting it on August 25, 2024, now has 1.3 million views. And Sherry’s TikTok account has now has over 238,000 followers.

The blow-up didn’t stop there. The popularity of her TikTok videos caught the attention of producers from APTN. Sherry, from Sioux Valley in Manitoba, and a member of Cote First Nation, now has her own cooking show on APTN, Grandma Sherry’s Kitchen, presented in her native Dakota language.

“It’s quite beautiful that the Creator has entrusted me with this. It’s a responsibility,” said Sherry.

“I feel at peace, and grounded, and feel the love. And more than that, I feel the presence of my ancestors encouraging me. I don’t feel alone.”

Sherry, who now lives in Yorkton, Saskatchewan, has a following of almost 240,000 on TikTok (Image Credit: APTN)

Much of what Sherry does is motivated by her past and her ancestors, she said. She grew up in a modest, one-bedroom log cabin, raised by her grandparents, Demas and Betsy Dowan. In a small house with seven children, the family spoke Dakota and the children slept on the floor, covered in coats or blankets.

“I never recall being uncomfortable. It was a wonderful, beautiful time.”

Sherry’s native tongue faded as she grew up. She set out to become a school teacher, but her path took her into social work, where she had a long career as a mental health and addictions worker, serving mostly First Nations communities in issues like grief, loss, and trauma.

“I absolutely loved it. I loved the people. My grandmother taught me to always do everything with love and kindness, and she believed love could cure anything,” said Sherry.

Sherry was forced to leave her career when she was diagnosed with cancer. As she was coming out of chemotherapy, one of her granddaughters started taking videos of Grandma Sherry in the kitchen as she cooked.

“She said ‘when you leave us, the other grandchildren can play them and we can listen to you’. I thought that’s wonderful that you want my story to go on.”

The videos were uploaded to TikTok, and Sherry quickly gained 5,000 followers – not knowing if that was a significant amount, she said.

Sherry cooks traditional recipes, many learned as a child from spending time in the kitchen with her grandmother. (Image Credit: APTN)

At 10,000 followers, they celebrated. At 30,000, Sherry believed she reached the ceiling. Then came the bannock video.

“I realized food was something everyone wanted to know about. They wanted to hear stories of my childhood, the foods we ate, how my grandmother cooked. And I just love sharing that.”

Sherry just didn’t gain followers, but grandchildren. Through her down-to-earth, heartfelt videos sharing her personality and home-cooking, Grandma Sherry has resonated with thousands in a personal way. She said she now has over 150,000 grandchildren, as she regularly gets messages from people, asking her grandchildren.

“One girl brought me to tears. She said her grandmother was mean, and had now died. She said if she could have another grandmother, she’d want one like me. So I told her I would be her grandmother,” she said.

“Even now, when I go out, people say ‘Hi, Grandma Sherry’, and I ask, ‘are you one of my grandchildren?’ and they say ‘Yes!’. I love it.”

That warmth and nurturing quality also resonated APTN’s producers, who invited Sherry to have a guest-spot on a children’s show, where she taught kids to make bannock. The show itself wasn’t a hit, but the Sherry herself made an impression. They invited her to do her own 30-minute show on the network.

“I was on top of the moon. But then the shoe dropped. They said it has to be in Dakota.”

While still understanding a bit of Dakota, Sherry had barely spoken her native language since leaving her grandparent’s log cabin as a kid. But APTN wanted the program in Dakota as a part of their language streaming services, which would then be subtitled in English.

They hired her a Dakota coach, and put her script up on a teleprompter. Sherry said it sounded easy, but day one on set was a different story.

“I couldn’t speak. The words were there in front of me, but getting them from my head out of my mouth didn’t work,” she said. “I thought, that’s it. We’re going to have to say no to all of this.”

But something in Sherry compelled her to push on. Sherry woke up every day at 4AM, repeatedly reading her script in Dakota until the language started to coalesce in her mind. That dedication to learning the language is what made it possible for the show to continue.

“I thought, language is important and you have the opportunity in playing a small role in getting people to reconnect with language,” she said.

“I feel as though I’ve done one of the most important things in my life. Reconnecting with my language was very difficult, but I did it.”

Sherry said her journey from cooking traditional recipes in her kitchen to social media and TV stardom isn’t about her. She it’s about her ancestors, her language, and her culture. She hopes those that watch her content, be it on their phones or TVs, get a sense of that great spirit that lives within everyone.

“I hope that’s what happens to the people who watch me. We are so connected to Mother Earth. I want people to know about our ways – our people are beautiful, our people are wonderful, we have a beautiful culture,” she said.

“And it’s just not our culture. We all have beauty in us, and love and kindness in us.”

Amongst the hundreds of thousands of fans and followers of Grandma Sherry, there is perhaps one that most benefits from her success.

“Candy – my rescue cat. She eats everything I make,” laughs Sherry. “The minute I turn the camera on, she starts to meow. I think she sometimes trying to overtake the show, she jumps up right in front and puts her face in the camera.”

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*To read more articles from EFN Media, former Eagle Feather News, click here.

by NC Raine/EFN Media

From Bannock to Broadcast TV – Grandma Sherry Serves Culture on APTN

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