Native News Network

Fry bread gets fit

http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050831/LIFE02/508310314/1004/LIFE

To give the traditional treat a healthier spin, an SDSU instructor cooks up two versions for a cultures class

Virginia Perez

vperez@argusleader.com

August 31, 2005

Mmmm, fry bread.

Many Native Americans hold South Dakota's official bread in high regard - too high, says journalist Suzan Shown Harjo, whose January column in Indian Country Today suggesting people give up fry bread for their health prompted some outrage.

The spell of fry bread is strong - a quick poll of 45 Native Americans across the country reinforces that. Only one respondent said he would give up fry bread forever because of fat. Others said they would cut back but wouldn't stop nibbling completely.

Virgil Taken Alive, a morning disc jockey at KLND radio in Little Eagle, has had six heart bypass surgeries. He has cut back on fry bread, but he hasn't given it up.

"Whenever they serve it, I love to eat it," Taken Alive said.

Considering the loyalty the tempting golden brown disks inspire, it's safe to say fry bread is here to stay. So is there a way to make it more heart-friendly, especially for a culture that faces high obesity rates and related health risks?

Native American culture and food expert Valerian Three Irons tinkered with his traditional recipe to find out.

Three Irons, a diversity and service learning associate at South Dakota State University in Brookings, teaches about Native American culture to students from schools around the country to prepare them to be immersed in reservation life, where they will work and reside for 10 weeks.

"Food is a big part of Indian culture, so it's important they learn about it," Three Irons said. This fall, Three Irons has three students: Erin Wright from Goucher College in Baltimore, Michaela Raikes from Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif., and Miranda Blue from Carleton College in Northfield, Minn. Only Wright had tried fry bread before coming to South Dakota.

The first session of "Fry bread 101" began in the Volga home of Three Irons, where he and his wife, Mary, taught all there is to know about fry bread. They prepared two versions, original and whole wheat.

As Three Irons turned the mushy dough into the Native American delicacy, he told his great-grandmother's fry bread creation story.

Fry bread goes back to the time when steamboats came up the river, Three Irons said. Traders from the boats often would do business with the Native Americans. One trader wanted Native women to slaughter and render a pig for him. As the women prepared a meal for the man, they decided to save time by using the oil from the pig to cook corn dough, and fry bread was invented.

When the original and whole-wheat fry bread finished cooking, Three Irons analyzed the whole-wheat bread. As he held it in his hand, he noticed a difference in weight and said, "There's calories missing." He then sliced samples for the students.

Three Irons noticed a little difference in taste but particularly in texture. Of the students, Wright preferred the taste of the original, Raikes said she could not tell the difference and Blue said, "They're both yummy."

"I kind of expected there to be a difference because there is a difference in the main ingredient," Three Irons said. "I thought the texture would be the same, but I found it to be a little more coarse. But the taste is similar and a little bit drier."

If they had to choose one over the other, all three students said they would choose the whole wheat because it's healthier.

Dietitian Teresa Beach with Sioux Valley Hospital has analyzed the health benefits of the two recipes.

Three Irons' original fry bread recipe contains 282 calories in a 3-ounce piece about 5 inches in diameter, and the whole-wheat version contains 250 calories. The whole-wheat version has 7 grams of fiber; the original, 2 grams. There were 46 grams of carbohydrates in the whole-wheat fry bread and 52 grams in the original.

The significant difference was in the type of oil used in the whole-wheat version. Three Irons chose canola oil for the whole wheat over soybean oil to give it a healthier monounsaturated fat, Beach said.

"The total fat in the healthier version was 4.5 grams, and for the not-so-healthy 4.1 grams," Beach said. "It's just that it's a better type of fat."

A welcome option

After the fry bread preparation, the Three Irons and the students were joined for an Indian taco dinner by SDSU Director of Diversity Allen Branum and his wife, Jan.

Three Irons said a blessing and instructed the students on how to build an Indian taco. All three chose the original fry bread over the whole wheat, but Branum decided to try the healthier version. He generally has a preference for whole-wheat breads, but after a few bites, he decided he liked the original version better.

"The regular is what I'm used to. It has a flavor that is more addictive," Branum said. "I'm very pleased there is a whole wheat out there, and I will dine on both in the future."

Once people realize there isn't much of a difference in taste, they might start using whole-wheat flour, Three Irons said, but they have to try it first.

Does he think people would ever quit eating fry bread?

"No."

THREE IRONS FRY BREAD: WHOLE WHEAT:

8 cups of whole-wheat flour

3 tablespoons baking powder

3 tablespoons Splenda

1 tablespoon salt

1 cup dry milk

4 tablespoons canola oil

4 cups warm water

Three Irons Fry Bread: Original

8 cups white flour

3 tablespoons baking powder

3 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon salt

1 cup dry milk

4 tablespoons soybean oil

4 cups warm water

For both: Blend 4 cups of flour with the rest of the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add the wet ingredients, and mix with a spoon. Slowly add 4 more cups of flour. Gently knead the dough to form a ball. Be cautious to not overwork the dough because it will become tough.

Heat 3 to 4 inches of oil in an electric skillet, large cast iron frying pan or deep fat fryer to 368 degrees (the higher temperature is important to prevent too much oil from soaking into the bread). Test the oil by dropping a small half-dollar-size piece of dough into the oil. When the oil is ready, the dough will bubble up and float to the top.

From the large ball of dough, pull off a small piece and flatten, using your hands or a rolling pin, to about a half-inch thickness and about 4 to 5 inches in diameter. Punch a small hole in the center, and put into the hot oil. Cook until golden brown on one side, and turn over until browned on both sides. Drain on paper towels.

Wojapi pudding

4 pounds berries or fruit

(any combination of blueberries, raspberries, chokecherries, buffaloberries, etc. will work)

4 cups water

2 cups sugar

Half a package of cornstarch to thicken

Mash the berries or fruit (with peaches, it is good to cook them a little first). Save some of the water to mix up the cornstarch. Put mashed fruit, sugar and water into a pan, and bring slowly to a boil.

Remove from heat, and stir in cornstarch mixture (be sure the cornstarch mixture isn't lumpy). Place back on low heat, and stir well until thickened to the consistency of pudding. Can be served as a dip for fry bread.

Commodity foods haven't offered best health benefits Native American culture and food expert Valerian Three Irons says fry bread is not the only culprit in the high rate of obesity, heart disease and diabetes among Native Americans.  

In the 1950s, the U.S. Department of Agriculture began distributing foods to people with certain income guidelines, Three Irons said. On the reservation, those foods came to be known as "commods," short for commodity foods.

Among the foods distributed included white rice, fruit packed in heavy syrup, white flour, canned meats with an inch of hardened lard on top and peanut butter topped with grease. These resulted in fat, unhealthy people with "commod-bods," Three Irons said.

"An excess amount of any one thing is a killer," Three Irons said.

He thinks a better way to address health epidemics is through education and a few adjustments to the commodity program.

"Commodity programs can change. They've proven that with the use of juices and the introduction of buffalo over hamburger," Three Irons said. "So this is another one they can do by changing bleached flour with whole-wheat flour."

Virginia Perez

CULTURALLY APPROPRIATE CURRICULUM, TEXTS AND MATERIALS

Compiled by André Cramblit, for any comments or additions please email me at andre.p.cramblit.86@alum.dartmouth.org

http://www.humboldt.edu/itepp/crc.html Indian Tribal and Education Personnel Program: Curriculum Resource Center.

http://www.colorincolorado.org/article/39579/ Tips for Choosing Culturally Appropriate Books & Resources About Native Americans.

http://www2.nau.edu/~jar/AIE/AIEbooks.html American Indian & Indigenous Education Books.

http://www.oyate.org Oyate reviews children’s literature and advocate for Native Americans/American Indians to be portrayed with historical accuracy, cultural appropriateness and without anti-Indian bias and stereotypes.

http://www.ssinar.com/PDFFiles/CultCompetResShort.pdf Culturally Competent Research with American Indians and Alaska Natives.

http://www.nativeculturelinks.com/ailabib.htm “I” is not for Indian: The Portrayal of Native Americans in Books for Young People.

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/how-choose-best-multicultural-books How To Choose The Best Multicultural Books.

http://mycultureisnotatrend.tumblr.com My Culture is Not a Trend: A Dialogue About Cultural Appropriation 

http://www.childrensliteraturenetwork.org/resource/readlist/favnatv.php Best Native American Books for Children and Young Adults.

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plan/native-american-cultures-books-and-resources The Common Core Reader: Native American Cultures Books and Resources.

http://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com The American Indians in Children's Literature (AICL) provides critical perspectives and analysis of indigenous peoples in children's and young adult books, the school curriculum, popular culture, and society.

http://www.ailanet.org American Indian Library Association: a membership action group that addresses the library-related needs of American Indians and Alaska Natives.

http://www.lessonplanet.com/search?keywords=American+Indian&type_ids%5B%5D=357917&gclid=CKCbyvKvwroCFUlp7AodIlgAlg American Indian Teacher Resources.

http://www.bloomington.k12.mn.us/node/306489 American Indian Curriculum and Lesson Plans 

http://www.racismagainstindians.org/Education/TeachingAboutIndians.pdf Racism Against American Indians: Teaching About American Indians.

http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~jar/AIER.html Selected Resources on American Indian/Indigenous Education.

http://www.tribalcollegejournal.org/archives/1388 Evaluating Classroom Materials for Bias against American Indians.

http://www.indigenousedu.org Indigenous Education Institute was created for the preservation and contemporary application of traditional Indigenous knowledge.

http://www.books.aisc.ucla.edu/aboutaicrj.aspx American Indian Culture and Research Journal.

http://www.ktjusd.k12.ca.us/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=184867&type=d&pREC_ID=384985 Klamath-Trinity Joint Unified School District’s Title VII American Indian Education Program Curriculum Resources.

http://www.americanindiantah.com American Indian Issues: A Curricular Guide for Educators.

http://www.humboldt.edu/cicd/epa/: Native American Lands: A Cultural Approach to Environmental Studies.

http://www.landlessons.org Lessons of Our California: A Native American Land Curriculum. 

http://www.hanksville.org/NAresources/ Index of Native American Resources on the Internet.

http://www.nccrest.org The National Center for Culturally Responsive Educational Systems.

http://library.sd.gov/LIB/DEV/tribal.aspx American Indian Tribal Library Resources.

http://www.teachingforchange.org Teaching for Change: Building Social Justice Starting in the Classroom.

http://www.nativevoicesbooks.com Native Voices Books, Traditional and Contemporary Native Books.

http://www.schools.utah.gov/fsp/Indian-Education/Resources/Forum-on-Indian-Education.aspx Teacher Resources - Forum on Indian Education

http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/94490-1 The federal role in American Indian Education

http://www.fourdir.com/tfc_toc.htm The first Californians

http://www.oyate.com Native Music and Stories from Over 50 Nations

http://www.pbs.org/mattersofrace/prog3.shtml Matters of Race: a contemporary look at two communities often overlooked in the race dialogue: American Indians and Native Hawaiians.

The circumstances in California during the 1800s which legalized slavery of Native Americans

http://www.californiacultures.org/California_Cultures___A_Monograph_Series/Monographs/Monographs.html California Cultures: A Monograph Series

Top American Indian Board Books for the Youngest Readers: http://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2011/04/top-board-books-for-youngest-readers.html

Baby Learns about Colors, by Beverly Blacksheep.

Boozhoo, Come Play With Us, by Deanna Himango

I See Me, by Margaret Manuel

Learn the Alphabet with Northwest Coast Art

Our Journey, by Lyz Jaakola

Welcome Song for Baby: A lullaby for newborns, by Richard Van Camp

Cradle Me, by Debby Slier

 

Top 10 American Indian Books for Elementary School:

http://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2010/07/top-ten-books-recommended-for.html

Campbell, Nicola. Shi-shi-etko

Campbell, Nicola. Shin-chi's Canoe

Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. Beaver Steals Fire: A Salish Coyote Story

Harjo, Joy. The Good Luck Cat

Messinger, Carla. When the Shadbush Blooms

Ortiz, Simon J. The Good Rainbow Road/Rawa 'kashtyaa'tsi hiyaani: A Native American Tale

Sockabasin, Allen J. Thanks to the Animals

Smith, Cynthia Leitich. Jingle Dancer

Tingle, Tim. Crossing Bok Chitto (also When Turtle Grew Feathers and Saltypie)

Waboose, Jan Bourdeau. SkySisters

 

Top 10 American Indian Books for Middle School:

http://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2010/07/top-ten-books-recommended-for-middle.html

Bruchac, Joseph. Hidden Roots. 

Carvell, Marlene. Who Will Tell My Brother?

Dorris, Michael. Sees Behind Trees.

Erdrich, Louise. The Birchbark House

Loyie, Larry. As Long as the Rivers Flow: A Last Summer before Residential School

Ortiz, Simon. The People Shall Continue

Smith, Cynthia Leitich. Indian Shoes

Smith, Cynthia Leitich. Rain Is Not My Indian Name

Sneve, Virginia Driving Hawk. High Elk's Treasure

Sterling, Shirley. My Name is Seepeetza

 

Top 10 American Indian Books for High School:

http://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2010/07/top-ten-books-recommended-for-high.html

Alexie, Sherman. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Broker, Ignatia. Night Flying Woman: An Ojibway Narrative

Carlson, Lori Marie (ed.). Moccasin Thunder: American Indian Stories for Today

Deloria, Ella C. Waterlily

Kenny, Maurice (ed.). Stories for a Winter's Night: Fiction by Native American Writers

King, Thomas. One Good Story, That One

Ortiz, Simon J. Men on the Moon: Collected Short Stories

Tapahonso, Luci. Blue Horses Rush In: Poems and Stories

Taylor, Drew Hayden. The Night Wanderer

Van Camp, Richard. The Lesser Blessed

 

Top Resources and Materials on Boarding Schools.

http://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2008/02/as-more-resources-and-books-are.html

 

Taking It on the Chin

By Allie Hostler

ARCATA, Calif.—Before the 20th century, most Hupa, Yurok and Karuk women wore “111” tattoos on their chins. The men had money tattoos on their upper arms to measure accurately the strands of dentalia, juniper berries and other items used then as currency.

Today, traditional tattooing is making a comeback with some Northern California tribal people. About two dozen women reportedly bear the 111 on their chins, and four of them and three men—all California Indians—were part of a panel discussion on traditional tattooing at the 20th annual California Indian Conference and Gathering.

“It’s like wearing your culture on your face every day,” said Lyn Risling, a panelist at the meeting last month at Humboldt State University.

Risling said her transformation started years ago when she wanted a 111 tattoo but dismissed the idea for various reasons. Later, she said, she learned about Teresa Hendrix-Wright, a Yurok determined to become a tattoo artist and give women traditional tattoos.

Risling said Hendrix-Wright, a Nevada resident who comes from Pekwan and Wohtek villages on the Yurok reservation in Northern California, traveled to Hawaii in 2000 to enlist Gary Tadao, a renowned Japanese artist, to tattoo the 111 on her chin.

Tadao refused, hesitant to tattoo a woman’s face, Risling said.

Hendrix-Wright did not give up. She spoke with Tadao many times on the phone, explaining the ancient culture involving the tattoos and eventually persuading him to tattoo her during a return trip to Hawaii in 2002.

Hendrix-Wright then bought a machine and began to practice the art on herself and her husband. Still not satisfied, she attended the 2002 Tattoo the Earth festival in Oakland, Calif., to learn more from the world's greatest tattoo artists. There, she met Inia Taylor, who used ancient Polynesian tapping methods of tattooing. Soon, she traveled to New Zealand for a short apprenticeship with him to learn that method.

Hendrix-Wright brought home the knowledge needed to give women the 111 tattoo in a traditional way. She set the outline for Risling’s tattoo, and Keone Nunes, another traditional Polynesian tattooist in the area for a tattoo workshop at Potowat Health Village in Arcata, completed it.

Many members of Risling’s family and several close friends were present for her transformation. Writer Julian Lang described the moment in an article published in the spring 2004 issue of the magazine News from Native California.

“As the tattoo slowly spread across Lyn’s chin, we all felt the exact moment when the transformation occurred. It was a startling and beautiful moment that brought tears to our eyes. The shared pain and joy reminded us all of a birth. The painful bloody time had passed, and now there was a new person in our midst,” Lang wrote.

“It was always there,” Risling said, speaking of her tattoos. “It’s just that now, people can see it.”

L. Frank Manriquez, a Southern California native who bears the 111 tattoo, saw a photo of a woman with the tattoo in News from Native California and was intrigued. She began with what she calls her starter kit—two parallel lines on each of her cheeks, followed by the 111 on her chin, the raven’s beak design on her left leg, a mourning design around her neck and several other images, all with symbolic meaning.

“My tribe has been deemed extinct by the federal government,” said Manriquez, a Tongva/Ajachmem. “This is a way to hold hands with my sisters through time. I just wanted that connection.”

The tattoos have different meaning for each person, but the panelists agreed about an element of responsibility that accompanies wearing them.

Risling said she encounters questions every day about her 111 and always takes a minute to explain its cultural significance and importance. In a positive way, she said, the tattoos have bridged a gap for her between two worlds, her traditional Native cultural life and her contemporary business life in today’s diverse society.

According to Lang’s article in News from Native California, there was no single reason that women were marked with the 111. They were tattooed for beauty, for the transformation from girl to woman, for spiritual reasons and as a way to distinguish between the sexes in battle or in old age, he wrote.

On receiving their tattoos, the panelists said, they experienced a deeper connection with their traditional way of life.

Other panels at the conference discussed basket weaving and cultural arts and more controversial topics facing California Natives. These included language, the desire to preserve sacred sites like the San Francisco Bay Area shell mounds and environmental concerns about Sudden Oak Death, Klamath River dams and Native plants.

 

Allie Hostler, Hoopa, attends Humboldt State University in Arcata, Calif. She is a graduate of the Freedom Forum's 2005 American Indian Journalism Institute.

Article Link: http://www.reznetnews.org/culture/051121_tattoo/

 

Copyright © 2006 Reznet.
Reznet is a project of The University of Montana School of Journalism
and the Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education.

Another similar link:

http://www.vanishingtattoo.com/california_tattooed_tribes_4.htm

Dance to Heal the Earth

Whenever you dance, wherever you dance, dance to heal the earth!

Dancing is power. Dancing is prayer. Some say that all is dance. Maybe. Now there's a big dance coming, a dance to heal the earth. If you're reading this, you're probably part of it. You take part whenever you do whatever you do to help heal the earth. When you recycle. When you choose to show love, to fight for justice, to bring healing, to bring out what is good in others. When you avoid cruelty and dishonesty and waste. When you are outraged. When you speak out. When you give. When you consider the generations to come. When you protest to the oppressors and encourage those who feel the cutting edge of injustice. And, of course, when you dance. There is a tree that all the prophets see, and whenever you let your love show, you make the flowers grow.

Soon this dance will be done in a big way, in the old way, on sacred ground. All living things will take part. If you want to, you can take part. No one is twisting your arm. You can stop any time you need to, and start up again whenever you're ready. If you've read this far, you probably know what I'm talking about. You've probably been doing it in one way or another for a good while. Soon will be the time to make no bones about it! Cut loose!

Anytime you dance, anywhere, whether at a party or in church, dance to heal the earth! Let your feet beat a healing rhythm into the earth. Let your feet beat a strengthening rhythm for those who struggle the hardest. Let your feet beat a life-giving rhythm for all peoples, regardless of race or national boundary, regardless of whether we're human or whether we're the trees, the air, the fish, the birds, the buffalo, the bear, the crow. We come out of hiding, we come back from the dead, and we dance, and our dance is a prayer, and our songs and our rhythms and our breath give life.

Is the music they're playing some mindless jingle? Never mind, as long as it's not bad music, and you can dance to the beat! Make your own words, and make the words a prayer. A prayer for the end of exploitation, a prayer for the end of lies, a prayer for healing, for justice, for life. Remember your prayer-song, feed it and let it get strong and pass it along. Dance and pray, whenever you dance, dance to heal the earth.

Have you seen anything? Wear it out! Make it so that all can see what you see! Take a white T-shirt and mark it with your dreams. Is there anything you'd like to tell the world? Take your shirt and mark it with your song! This is the way it has been done, so you can do it too. Use any color except black (there are reasons for that that will become clearer later), and you'll probably find that a loose, pure cotton T is most comfortable for dancing in. Cos this is an actual dance, you dance hard, you sing and breathe hard and sweat. Wear it when you plan to go out dancing, to dance to heal the earth.

Some people do this dance while fasting, and dance for several days straight. But even a few minutes of dancing helps, and joins with all the other dancing going on, everywhere on Earth. Not everyone can fast these days. Besides, you never know when you're gonna dance, and you have to eat sometimes! But if you plan to dance, hold off eating till later, or just have a little. It's easier to dance if you don't have a hotdog weighing you down.

Some people say, do not do sacred things where people are drinking and partying. But all the universe is a sacred place. It really doesn't matter what others are doing, you can make a place sacred wherever you are, with your intention and your prayers. Some people use smoke to make a place sacred; a cigarette or incense stick will do fine. You can dance to heal the earth anywhere, even a party or a bar! The earth is everywhere, so you can dance anywhere to heal her. Only one thing. Please hold off drinking or using any other intoxicants till you're done. It works better that way 

The Lie has gone far enough. It spreads and makes everyone sick. Now is the time for this dance to begin. It, too, will spread, and it will bring healing to all. In the beginning, they say, God put a rainbow in the sky, to let us know that Spirit never forgets. Now is the time for us to put a rainbow across the earth, to let God know that we, too, remember. 

Dance to heal the earth. Not just when you're dancing, but always. Live the dance, whenever you move, in all you do, dance to heal the earth.

https://www.facebook.com/FindJayElliotGreer

 Description: “Jay” Elliot Greer

38 years old
5’11” • 170 lbs
very short dark brown hair
hazel eyes

Neck tattoo with the name “Tracy”

Indian Design “Frog Foot” Tattoo around biceps

Driving faded red 1990 Ford Ranger pickup w/ Camper • License Plate 4C18394

Last seen on Sat., October 19th, 2013 in Burnt Ranch area on Hwy 299 in Western Trinity County, traveling toward Eureka or Hoopa.

PLEASE CALL THE TRINITY OR HUMBOLDT COUNTY SHERIFF DEPT. WITH ANY INFO:
Trinity County Sheriff Department: (530) 623-2611
Humboldt County Sheriff Department: (707) 445-7251
Anonymous Tip Line: (707) 268-2539