Smoke Signals 7
Weundloirs Seree Up
Pow-wow Cfaw
SEPTEMBER 1,2007
Fry bread, Indian tacos
prove popular dishes
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
With a growing line of fam
ished pow-wow attendees
standing before her fry
bread tent on Saturday afternoon,
Joanne Beeks (Navajo) of Grand
Ronde pulls a handful of dough out
of a small refrigerator and quickly
starts punching holes in it with
her thumb as she twirls it into an
acceptably round shape.
"The holes make it float around
and turn out fluffy," Beeks says,
barely looking up to answer a ques
tion. Beeks hands the perforated dough
to employee Bea Belan, who care
fully drops it into a vat of hot oil for
about 30 seconds.
After the flour has burgeoned into
fry bread, Belan gingerly extracts it
from the oil and passes it upfront,
where hungry pow-wowers top it
with beans and ground beef. Others
farther back in line jealously crane
their necks for a mouth-watering
peek, having worked up an appetite
watching the calorie-consuming
dancing.
Beeks, who has cooked at the
Pow-wow for the last six years
i and says Tribal members probably
know her as "the burrito lady,"
says she used up a 50-pound bag of
flour on Friday, the opening night
" of the 2007 Pow-wow, and would
probably cook through a 100-pound
bag on Saturday. She estimates she
and her hired help - Beeks used
to work Pow-wow with family as
sistance, but everyone has moved
away - would cook more than 200
fry breads on Saturday.
"It's going to be a long day," Beeks
adds while twirling yet another
soon-to-be fry bread.
She was right.
Beeks' fry bread stand was one
of 16 food vendors, five of whom
offered Indian tacos and fry bread
for sale, who helped keep both par
ticipants and audience members
fed during the three-day event,
held Aug. 17-19 at the Grand Ronde
Tribal campus.
In addition to fry bread and
Indian tacos, people munched on
elephant ears, pizza, kettle korn,
and barbecued ribs, chicken and
sausage, as well as soothing their
palates with $1 ice cream bars.
For John Florent, the 2007 Pow
wow was yet another event in a
long list over the last eight years
that he's attended with his giant
kettle korn-making drum. He says
he invested about $30,000 to get his
kettle korn operation popping.
"I had a friend in Fresno who was
the biggest operator in California,"
Florent says about getting into the
sticky situation.
Florent attended the 2006 Pow
wow and returned for this year's
event because of that positive ex
perience. Although Friday night stated
slow, Florent says, Saturday's sales
were making up for the sluggish
start. And Florent was already
looking forward to the future.
"Two weeks from today I'll be
at Autzen Stadium," Florent says
while scooping kettle korn into a
plastic bag for Crystal Lester of
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Above, Thomas
Ainsworth, left, and Ed
Simper enjoy an Indian
taco during the 2007
Grand Ronde Contest
Pow-wow. Right, Todd
Barker of McMinnville
turns slabs of ribs.
Tualatin. "I've done every
Duck game since 2002."
Meanwhile, amidst
swirling, aromatic smoke
wafting up from two rect
angular grills behind
the barbecue tent, Todd
Barker of McMinnville
turns slabs of ribs, chick
en and sausages over the
fire.
'This is our first time at
Pow-wow," Barker says.
"My sister works at the
(Spirit Mountain) Casino,
and she suggested it. I'm
glad she did. It's a great
event."
Barker was using the
Pow-wow, like he has other festi
vals and events this summer, as
another opportunity to promote his
Barker-Q barbecue sauce, which he
created 25 years ago but has only
been actively marketing for the last
18 months. The sauce is available
locally at such outlets as Roth's
grocery store in McMinnville.
Considering the consistently long
lines at the barbecue tent on Satur
day, Barker's peppery, but not too
spicy, sauce might already have a
few more loyal customers.
As the afternoon wore on, the
popularity of Indian tacos and fry
bread proved frustrating for some
Left, Joanne Beeks prepares dough
before it is dropped into a vat of
oil and becomes fry bread. Right,
the Tribe served salmon dinner on
Saturday evening during the Powwow.
' ' 1.1 '", , -t
hungry Pow-wow attendees. The
lines were long and at least one
vendor ran out of supplies to make
fry bread, disappointing those wait
ing to place an order.
But Ed Simper and his friend,
Thomas Ainsworth, were among
the lucky fry bread aficionados,
standing between vendors' row
and the Pow-wow tent, munching
on $6 Indian tacos from Claudia's
Indian Tacos.
"They're the best on-site," Simper
said in between bites.
"Claudia (Leno, Grand Ronde)
always has the best," Ainsworth
added after swallowing a mouthful.
"It's well worth it."
For those unable to get their
favorite Pow-wow meal, the Tribe
provided another option. Between
4:30 and 6:30 p.m. Saturday, volun
teers served a salmon dinner with
all the fixings - rice, corn, biscuits,
cookies and juice - to attendees and
participants.
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