Paul Bickford
Northern News Services

Hay River Reserve (Sep 26/05) - While a debate rages among aboriginal people in the United States about the health problems caused by fry bread, there is no such debate in the NWT about bannock.

The difference is fry bread - as the name suggests - is fried in the U.S. and parts of southern Canada, while bannock in the NWT is most often baked in an oven or over an open fire.

Mabel Wong, a dietician with the diabetes program at Stanton Territorial Health Authority in Yellowknife, has no particular problem with bannock.

"People can eat bannock. Just don't go overboard," she says.

Bannock is even listed in the NWT Food Guide.

However, Wong says fry bread is a different story, noting she once tasted it at a coffee shop on Six Nations land in Ontario.

"It's like eating a big, fat, greasy donut," she recalls, although she adds it is very tasty.

Recently, a leader of a native rights group in the U.S. called for people to stop eating fry bread, pointing out it contributes to obesity, hypertension, diabetes and other medical conditions.

Clara Lafferty, an elder on the Hay River Reserve, says she has been making bannock all her life, after learning the recipe from her mother.

There's nothing wrong with eating bannock, the 70-year-old says. "I've been living on bannock all my life."

Lafferty says she saw people making fry bread at a pow-wow in Edmonton many years ago. "They said it was bannock, but it wasn't bannock."

Occasionally, she also fries bannock, but notes that way of preparation creates a lot of grease.

Very fatty

Wong says fry bread is a favourite of the Navajo people of the southern U.S.

"Navajo fry bread is very, very fatty because it's deep-fried," Wong says.

However, she says northern bannock is no more hazardous than ordinary bread, "If you don't overindulge."

Wong says some people in the NWT are changing the ingredients of bannock to cut down on the amount of fat. They use oil instead of lard, and whole wheat flour, bran or oatmeal.

"Fibre has been shown to keep hearts healthy," she says.

Wong says lard tends to clog up blood vessels, although oil still can lead to a heavier person. "Fat is fat, whether lard or oil."

Wong says eating any food in moderation is the key. "Any food that we eat too much of - bannock or rice - is going to make you heavier."

Wong says some Inuit people also fry bannock.

Melissa Guyot, a nutritionist with the Nunavut Department of Health and Social Services, says that is true, but not all Inuit do.

"Everybody makes it differently," she says.

Like Wong, Guyot says baking lowers the fat content.

"My advice for people would be to make it with as little fat as possible," she says.

While a favourite of aboriginal people, bannock actually has its origins with European explorers, Wong says. "They had these breads to sustain them while they travelled on foot from one place to another."

According to the dictionary, bannock is originally a Scottish word meaning a round flat cake made from oatmeal, flour and barley.

Two Recipies

Here are two recipes for bannock - the first from Clara Lafferty, an elder on the Hay River Reserve, and the second from the Nunavut Department of Health and Social Services.

Recipe No. 1