Fry Bread Is the Quintessential Osage Dish You'll Want to Make All the Time

Pawhuska, Oklahoma, is much more than Ree's hometown. The small, historic city is where the Osage Nation is headquartered and has served as the tribe's home since the late 1800s. Before Europeans colonized the Americas, the Osage hunted, gathered, and farmed their food. Many of the dishes they ate then are still enjoyed today thanks to tribe members like Addie Hudgins, a traditional Osage cook and director of the Wahzhazhe Cultural Center. Addie is often called on to cook for the community and one of the first things she usually makes is this fry bread, a Native American staple. Read on for the recipe and to learn more from Addie about Osage food traditions.

Q: Where did you learn to cook?
A: I learned when I was little from my aunt and my mom. Not everyone has that cooking knowledge—only certain families are traditional cooks. You learn from your elders and the people that surround you. It’s kind of a rite of passage. There are usually three or four cooks, women, and we love to laugh and have a good time while cooking. If you’re mad or upset with someone, don’t be touching food! You only want to cook when you’re full of love.

Q: How important is food to the Osage?
A: Everything we do is centered around food. When we give our children Osage names, we have a breakfast. Part of the funeral service is the meal at the end. In the past, if someone would visit you, you would send them home with a basket of groceries. Even at funeral dinners or dance committee meetings, we’ll put out fruit, and people will take extra and put it on a plate under their chair. The food on that plate represents that you’re taking it with you—it helps on your journey back to where you came from.

Q: Where do you get your recipes from?
A: Recipes are shared via word of mouth. We don’t really use recipes. When I’m making fry bread, I never actually measure the ingredients. It took me a minute to put the recipe for it down to paper! If someone asked me to make something and I didn't know how to do it, I would ask my aunt and she would say, “I’ll show you to how to do it once.” After that, it’s up to me.

Q: What are some hallmarks of Osage fare?
A: Salt and pepper. The way we are now, we use what we were given when we were given food from the federal government: flour and salt and sometimes meat. Some of our more traditional dishes are chicken and dumplings, squash, and meat gravy, which is boiled meat mixed with a flour and water roux. It’s all very simple things.

There is a food sovereignty initiative, also, with Bird Creek Farm which is a tribal farm that is expanding exponentially. The idea is to incorporate more healthy foods into our people’s diets.

Q: How often do you make traditional dishes?
A: We make breakfast like everyone else: oatmeal, bacon, eggs, gravy—we’ve even been known to have pancakes. There are people who cook traditional foods at home, too. The difference between cooking at home and at a community dinner is that at a community dinner, you’d be cooking outside. There would be a big fire with a cooking grate over it, and you put your big pot on it. The pots are usually passed down, but some are so old. We’re trying to find new things to use, but we’re in a weird spot. We’re trying to carry on these traditions in a more modern way.