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Bread Anchors the Web of LifeCan you name me a culture that doesn’t have a bread they call their own? I’ve tried and I can’t think of one. From the unleavened flat breads of the middle east to the cornbreads of the Americas, every group has at least one form of the sustenance that keeps body and soul together. The evolution of breads is fascinating because the staff of life is so essential that it has come to represent both individual and community life. The phrase "breaking bread" rarely refers to a solitary activity. In many cases the story of bread is also the saga of the survival of a people. This is certainly true of the indigenous peoples of North America, the tribal peoples who live on this land they call turtle island. Many kinds of bread were made here, from the ground corn, acorns, beans, nuts and seeds that grew naturally on this land. How did the tribal peoples survive in the 19th century when they were placed in reservations and separated from many of their traditional food sources? The answer is a story of survival despite tremendous odds, and it is also the story of how fry bread came into being, because fry bread was not a traditional food here. In the 1800s the United States government supplied the tribes who were living in reservations in the Midwest and West with government-issue food. The flour, oil, baking powder and cows milk brought to the people were not foods indigenous to these lands. It is a tribute to the ingenuity of native people that they came up with fry bread as a way of using these strange, new food supplies and staying alive in the process. Fry bread also came to symbolize inter-tribal unity because many tribes began to share it at intertribal gatherings. Some of these get-togethers are called powwows. They occur all over the United States all year long, but there are more of them in the summer months. The term "powwow" is from the Algonquin language group, and it means medicine. These get-togethers are a form of medicine; it is healing for the tribes to gather together in celebration and ceremony. The food served is an integral part of the spiritual and community experience of these yearly gatherings. Everything from the songs and prayers that are sung while preparing the food, the love that is put into its cooking and the inter-tribal friendships that form when people work side by side to create the event are essential ingredients as necessary as the flour and water itself. This attitude toward food and community life is called the web of life and the web of relationship, and it is the breath of tribal life . No one goes hungry. Everybody eats together at the powwow, and this creates a powerful sense of community where nobody is a stranger. How to make Frybread 2 cups flour Deep hot fat in frypan or fryer Sift dry ingredients. Lightly stir in milk. Add more flour as necessary to make a dough you can handle. Kneed and work the dough on a floured board with floured hands until smooth. Pinch off fist-sized limps and shape into a disk — everyone has their own characteristic shapes (shape affects the taste, by the way because of how it fries). Fry in corn oil (about 375 ) until golden and done on both sides, about 5 minutes. Drain on absorbent paper. Frybread can be combined with many other things to make delicious meals and desserts. Here are a few things that combine nicely as toppings served with frybread:
Ground buffalo can be found at some natural foods markets and is prepared like hamburger meat. It is delicious sautéed with garlic and onions and a healthy meat since it is much lower in fat than beef. Top this Indian taco with a little sprinkling of grated cheese.
Last but not least, I have a suggestion of a wonderful Native American CD to listen to while making your frybread: "Matriarch" by Joanne Shenandoah, a Grammy-nominated Iroquois singer/songwriter. Also, here is a Web site that will give you more information on the history of the powwow: www.learn-history-documentary.com/native-american/powwow/default.htm We are fortunate to have many inter-tribal gatherings that occur every year in the U.S. and Canada. Here is a good link to information on powwows and a calendar. http://www.powwows.com/cgi-bin/powwowcal.cgi Many are both open to the public and good places to bring the family on a weekend. |
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