This year, we are having a frybread Thanksgiving. Daughter mentioned frybread a few days ago and made me hungry for it. Also, I like the idea of honoring Native Americans to whom Thanksgiving has a whole different meaning. It is the Native way to give thanks for the gift of life every single morning. They have no cause for giving thanks about the Pilgrims surviving that first winter in the "New World" with the help of the Wampanoag.

The Wampanoag people had shared their winter's harvest with the illegal immigrants that winter, not simply one specific meal. Even having had enough bad experience trading with Europeans already to know what they were about, the Wampanoag's ethical system would not allow them to let these people starve.

First contact between Europeans and Native Americans long before the Pilgrims had brought into play the most potent Colonialization tool—germs. Though not well known, North America suffered the largest human die off in history where it is estimated that 80 to 90 percent of the population was felled by influenza, small pox, and a host of diseases from the Old World to which they had absolutely no immunity.

It is estimated that the Wampanoag which greeted the Pilgrims were the last 2,000 survivors of an estimated population of 12,000 after suffering three epidemics prior to 1620.  Pilgrims actually settled in an abandoned Indian village. Of course, our Puritan forefathers likely saw this as God's hand clearing the land to make room for them.

On Thanksgiving Day, we will be giving thanks for the gift of life of another year together. We will be mindful of our indigenous peoples and be thankful that they have not been assimilated but have reclaimed soveriegnty, land, and their cultural heritage to make our mutual nation a richer place.  We will celebrate with soup, yams, frybread, chili, squash, corn, wild rice, and apple pies.

FRYBREAD

Fry bread is as quintessentially native as the buffalo used to be. I have been served fry bread in a Miccosukee village in the Everglades and also been told by my Yu'pik student that fry bread is a great favorite in Alaska. However unlike the buffalo, this Native American staple became a “traditional” food only post-contact. The reason for that is it is the only thing you can make with flour, oil and beans—the commodity foods that many indigenous peoples are forced to eat or go hungry. The dangerous rise of obesity and diabetes within the native population can be laid to this poverty diet which they eat every day.

So, having told you that fry bread can kill you if you eat too much of it, it is still good to eat occasionally. And sometimes—shared with others-- it can be a simple sacrament. (See Sherman Alexie's movie Smoke Signals.)

The Science

2 cups flour (Blue Bird, I think, is the brand used at Pine Ridge)

1 cup dried milk

1 Tablespoon baking powder

1 Tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1.5 cups (or more) water, very warm

The Art

There are as many ways to combine these simple ingredients as there are individuals who make it. This is my way.

Use fresh oil and heat it to about 375 degrees. I use a hot fat fryer.

Put all the dried ingredients into a large bowl and stir them around. I then put the very warm water in and stir it up. This will look like too much water and it should—you are making a “sponge” so put in a bit more warm water if it isn't kind of too wet. Cover the bowl and let it sit for awhile until it bubbles up nicely.

Wash your hands (if you haven't already) and be prepared to have your hands messy for at least an hour. (Here's where we fix the “too much water” problem.) You take handfuls of flour and sprinkle it on top of the nice bubbly dough. Then you grab out a small handful and spread it in your floured hands, patting it from hand to hand, until it covers your hand and is quite thin. (You will need to keep flouring your hands—and the dough-- until your hands get good and caked.) The dough should not feel like bread dough; it should feel kind of spongy and light. Sprinkle a little more flour on the dough if it is so fragile that it won't stay together. Your hands should be gentle with the dough. Place it gently in the hot oil and cook until golden brown on both sides. Drain on paper towels. Best served hot. Serve with chili or ground beef and onions or honey or powdered sugar.

I thank all of the women who have given me hints and shown me how to do this.

Blessings from the four directions.

Photo of Dine' elder courtesy of OSO-ONO Fried Breads of the World