A Brief History of Native American Frybread
Today, frybread is the beloved staple of powwows and stomp dances across the country. It connects each tribal nation in love, tradition, and greasy goodness. It’s such a simple food, made of only five ingredients- sugar, white flour, lard, and salt, but it symbolizes hundreds of years of survival and hardship. Frybread is the symbol of victory over oppression for indigenous people, but where did it come from?
Frybread originated in the mid-to-late 1800s, when tribal nations were being forced out of the homelands they had been occupying for thousands of years. It was a time of desperation, fear, and indescribable pain. The Indian Removal Act affected the Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Cherokee, and Seminole Nations before sinking its claws into the nations further West. These nations were forced to walk hundreds of miles to reservations. Many died of disease or starvation before arriving. The early American government rationed out white flour, sugar, and lard to some of the tribes to prevent this starvation. With their traditional crops no longer available on this new land, they had to make do, and frybread was born.
As many new nations settled into the new land and cultivated new crops and hunting tactics, frybread continued to stick around, eventually morphing into its cousin: the delicious and glorious Indian Taco. Indian tacos, at least in the Muscogee Creek Nation, are pieces of frybread topped with juicy venison or beef, cheese, lettuce, and hominy. It is truly the greatest food known to man. Frybread can also be turned into a dessert; this Muscogee writer prefers to top it with honey, powdered sugar, and strawberries to make a thick, pillowy, crepe-like dessert that will make your mouth water from a mile away.
As we enter into Indigenous History Month, I encourage you to make your own frybread! See how many different recipes for desserts and sandwiches you can make with your fresh frybread. As you eat it surrounded by your family and friends, you can choose to be inspired by the resilience of the indigenous people, knowing that you can take on whatever this next year has in store for you. Better yet, you can eat your frybread in true indigenous fashion by sharing stories with your family and friends that make them smile and laugh. After all, laughter is the best medicine.
Happy Indigenous History Month!
FRYBREAD RECIPE:
2 cups flour
3/4 cup powdered milk
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 packet yeast
1 cup water (or according to yeast package instructions)
DIRECTIONS:
Combine yeast and warm water to activate, following the instructions on the packet, and let sit for 5 to 10 minutes. Combine dry ingredients and add half the activated yeast, then mix. Add small amounts of the yeast until the mixture forms a dough-like consistency. Form the dough into a circular shape.
Sprinkle flour on a flat surface and roll out the dough using a rolling pin. From the flattened dough, cut small triangles (no larger than 3" to 4" in height) and fry in oil until golden brown.
Recipe: https://www.firstnations.org/recipes/grandmas-fry-bread/