By Marilyn Craig, Museum Marketing Coordinator
TAHLEQUAH, OK.— Hair Cultural Center and Keetoowah Museum held a staff development, cultural revitalization session on how to make frybread. The session was one of a series of monthly cultural classes for employees. Ten UKB employees and five museum staff gathered in the classroom of the museum and then went outside, where there were two six-foot tables that were set up with a medium-sized bowl of flour for each participant.
The class was taught by Keetoowah elder Dondi Adkins. She said that most people she knows use self-rising flour and a bit of salt and warm water. Some use regular flour and water. Though that is the standard for most, she likes to use warm milk for hers and a small sprinkle of sugar. She said the sugar makes the bread a bit crispier.
Each participant worked their dough until it was a medium consistency and felt sticky, then they put the lid on their dough so they could take it with them and cook it at home.
Adkins had already prepared a large bowl of dough and had let the dough set, covered, overnight. She said letting the dough rest is a tip that she feels makes a difference. So, each person got a large ladle of her dough to add flour to and shape into a frybread.
Each person patted their frybread from left hand to right hand and back and forth until it was the size they wanted. Then, one or two at a time, they gently laid the bread into the hot grease. In a short time, the bread needed to be turned, and, in a bit longer, the golden-brown bread was taken out of the grease.
Class members took their cooked bread down to the classroom and made an Indian taco with all the fixings. Museum employee Kyndal Aimerson said, "It was interesting to see other ways of creating frybread; even though I have made it before, I still learned something new."
UKB Roads/Construction and Transit Director, Toni Workman, said, “What really intrigued me was that if you leave your dough sitting out for a few hours, it will make your frybread fluffier. I’ve been making frybread for years, and I didn’t know that little trick!
I’m really glad that this round of classes has included traditional cooking. I enjoy cooking and learning all the different ways people prepare traditional dishes! And it’s just a good time getting to know your coworkers on a more personal level.”
Eating their own delicious Indian taco was a great way to end the class. These employee cultural revitalization classes are funded by a Tribal Opioid Response grant from Echota Behavioral Health. The grant pays for cultural supplies and teachers for the monthly “Lunch and Learn” program for this fiscal year. The next cultural revitalization class will be Feb. 19, and the class will learn to make basket starts with Tradition Keeper Janelle Adair.
For more information, call Barbara Girty Foster at (918) 316-5352.
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