Hi, my name is Sarah Blackwell. My Anishinaabe name is Bzhiw Kwe – Lynx Woman. I am an Aboriginal (Anishinaabe) mother of 3 children, a grandmother to 1, a sister to 9 and an Auntie to 7. 

My Health Journey

I have always been passionate about helping people and in health and healing. Even as a young child I was interested in germs and cleanliness~ and not in a weird OCD kind-of-way. As a teenager I would read books about natural healing and using herbs as medicine. I knew I had an Inner Physician in me, but it was not the standard Western kind that I wanted to explore. I felt very connected to Mother Earth from a young age and often wondered how humans could interact with beings and Spirits not normally seen in this physcial realm. I explored my native Spirituality in a way that was typical of a teenager~through rebellion of course!

By the time I finished highschool I knew I wanted to expand my horizons by attending University somewhere exciting…so I headed to the West Coast of British Columbia! While studying Child and Youth Care at the University of Victoria I hiked many beautiful places (like the Carmanah Valley), met some cool hippies, and connected with my identity as an Aboriginal woman….oh and earned a College Certificate and a Bachelor of Arts Degree. I also knew that the connection I felt to the water and land could not be ignored.

I returned to Ontario five years later to work and put my education to good use by helping out First Nation communities. This is when I saw the devastating health conditions among Aboriginal people. I was young, had my own good health, was vibrant and full energy and could not understand why in Canada the sickness and disease of First Nations people was so much worse than other Canadians. I have worked in the field of health care since then (1999).

The next major life event that really strengthened my desire and passion for learning more about health and diseases was having my first child in 2003. As I was building my career as Health Advocate for First Nations people, I was forgetting the importance of taking care of my own health and well-being…until I had a baby. Then EVERYTHING changed!! Maternal instinct kicked in, nesting kicked in and Mother Bear kicked in! It was scary, exhausting, overwhelming, stressful and extremely confusing…but it was the one crucial life event that reminded me of WHO I AM (although I didn’t know it at the time). I quit my job and pursued a Master’s Degree in Health Studies…all the while learning to be a mother, managing a home, cooking meals, deciding to homeschool my 3 year old and carry new life within me as well (Baby #2). My son was born 2 weeks after I finished my courses for my Master’s Degree.

Nine months later I launched an online store specializing in Attachment Parenting products. I provided local women with natural baby products like cloth diapers, baby carriers and all ‘eco’ baby products. I also conducted workshops and training sessions on attachment parenting, breastfeeding and cloth diapering to local moms and nearby First Nation communities. Then Baby #3 came along and I realized homeschooling was getting more intense and I wanted to focus more on educating women about raising healthy children. I sold that business to a local mother and took some time away from business building.

Shortly after the sale of that business I was diagnosed with Cervical Cancer (2011). I was too young…I thought to myself “only old people get cancer”. I was exhausted, overweight, addicted to sugar, fed my children mindless food and never went out with my husband…EVER! And now I was sick. It was the most frightening experience~ I had to make changes. So I DID.

This blog is about that journey. You will read about my journey with homeschooling, my journey with foods and just life in my family.

I hope it inspires you to allow all your best qualities to emerge from you, so that you may be the best version of yourself.

Sarah.