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Native American Frybread

post #1 of 9
5/24/12 at 1:38pm
Thread Starter 

x


Edited by tasunkawitko - 9/18/12 at 7:12pm

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post #2 of 9
5/24/12 at 2:02pm
It's history has much more to do with the reservation system imposed on them and the welfare food supplies that came with it.
more than taste fine
me eat it all the time
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post #3 of 9
5/24/12 at 2:17pm
Thread Starter 

aye, that's what i said....

 

 

Quote:

Along about the same time, western tribes began to receive other very basic (and often low-quality) staples such as beef, bacon, hardtack, sugar, coffee, flour, salt and lard. These staples were, at first, bestowed by the "generous White Father" upon America's "domestic dependent nations" as gifts during treaty negotiations, and also as resulting annuities once the treaties were concluded. Later, as the tribes were systematically conquered, subjugated, relocated or simply herded onto reservations, frybread emerged as an improvised product of the government-enforced dependency on federal rations and, later, commodities.
 

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post #4 of 9
8/23/12 at 1:47pm
Thread Starter 
Finally - pictorial finished (edited original post), as promised!

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post #5 of 9
8/25/12 at 1:07pm

I Love frybread but only make it a few times a year, not the healthiest food.

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post #6 of 9
8/29/12 at 9:09pm

Tasunkawitko,

for the Haudenosaunee "fry bread" is more recent. Seems to be more of a Southwest tribal staple linked to the influences of the tribes from what is now Mexico. We had corn bread, but in a much different form from what is commonly referred to as Johnny Cake. Ours was very dense and thick included 2 of the 3 sisters, corn and beans. "Hominy" was dehusked with hardwood ashes boiled to extract lye, rinsed, several times and coarse ground. The bread was formed by adding boiling water, salt and soaked beans, formed into a wheel maybe 2+ inches thick and boiled. This was our staple and usually traditionally eaten with smoked or dried game or fish. My parents and grandparents served it with salt pork and either rendered fat from the pork, lard or butter. The closest descriptive would be coarse ground grit and kidney bean pie pan sized 2" thick hockey puck. Now as unpleasant as this may sound it was delicious. Eaten now mostly at celebrations true traditional corn bread is coveted among "Skins" not residing on the rez anymore. It's tough to come by, IF, you don't know someone.

The Haudenosaunee had influence all the way from parts of Maine west to the Mississippi. The French called us Iroquois and the Haudenosaunee Confederacy is the oldest Democracy in North America still in existence.

One more note, please understand that the US Government formally "recognizes" about 550 different tribal entities, Native Americans represent less that 2% of the population but over 95% of the ethnic diversity in the US alone. There were no common language, customs, religion communication etc., with every due respect, fry bread as you describe it was not a common denominator among all the tribes, First time I ever heard of it I was probably in the early 1970's at a Pow wow at a state fair in NYS.

FYI both parents 100% Haudenosaunee, my tribal passport research went 7 generations back on both sides, all Haudenosaunee.

PM , me if you like, don't mean to seem to hijack.

 

 

Cheers,

 

EDG

"I understand horses, dogs and children, not necessarily in that order, it's everyone else I seem to have trouble understanding."

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post #7 of 9
8/29/12 at 11:01pm
Thread Starter 

hi, edg, and thank you for your outstanding information. no worries about hijacking - i enjoy seeing where discussions go and am always willing to learn.

 

you are of course correct with this:

 

Quote:
the US Government formally "recognizes" about 550 different tribal entities, Native Americans represent less that 2% of the population but over 95% of the ethnic diversity in the US alone. There were no common language, customs, religion communication etc., with every due respect, fry bread as you describe it was not a common denominator among all the tribes

 

having a minor in n/a studies, i should know better, but now and then i let my own personal experiences get in the way of complete and total academic accuracy. my personal frybread "experience" comes from families in the northern plains, and also somewhat in the southern plains and southwest in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. at first i thought it was a thing limited to those areas, but my research indicated it was much wider-spread than that, with examples of some variations stretching across the continent in many forms, including going back to pre-1492 days, but those versions as you know, are very different. anyway, i saw so many tribes listed in my research that i went with the wide brush, turning it into a "pan-indian" thing in my enthusiasm, but of course you are correct that it was not a common denominator. i'll most likely edit my text to something a little more demographically accurate, or elminate the phrase altogether, because i want to do this subject justice.

 

thanks again for your comments, and especially for your notes on how the Haudenosaunee make such interesting bread (that also sounds very delicious!).  and as i said, never worry about hijacking one of my threads - i'm here to discuss and learn ~

Helfen, Wehren, Heilen

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post #8 of 9
8/30/12 at 5:23am

Tas,

 

Thanks very much for the beautiful pictorial, the historical background and diverse recipe options for Native American Indian Fry Breads. Perhaps, one day I shall give it a try in Madrid.

 

Kind regards,

Marge. 

Margcata, Eternally the product
(3 photos)
Globetrotting Journalist Margaux Cintrano
(21 photos)
 
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post #9 of 9
8/30/12 at 1:23pm

Hey T,

thanks for the kind words, I too minored in NA studies and as you are probably aware there are mixed feelings about sanctifying fry bread within the NA community.

I kind of lump it together with "All things NA according to (most) of the Angelo community", you know like dream catchers, tee pees, sweat lodges and turquoise.

If your interested in my thoughts from a historical NA perspective feel free to pm me as I do not think it appropriate here.

Anyway, thanks for the thread.

 

Best,

 

 

EDG

"I understand horses, dogs and children, not necessarily in that order, it's everyone else I seem to have trouble understanding."

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