Native women are running fry bread companies in WA. They say firework season sparks sales

By Karlee Van De Venter

Updated July 2, 2023 11:04 AM

Fry bread with butter and homemade chili by Ernestine Jim Courtesy: Ernestine Jim

Independence Day is a huge weekend for many industries, including burgers and beer and fireworks. It’s also a huge weekend for fry bread vendors and enthusiasts. It’s not always easy to get your hands on fry bread, as stands tend to vary their hours and location during most of the year.

But in the week leading up to July 4, access to fry bread increases dramatically as vendors come out to sell alongside fireworks sales spots on reservations.

A common component with Native American meals, fry bread is popular particularly at larger gatherings and during festivities like the Fourth of July. The recipe and style will change from tribe to tribe, and from cook to cook, but it’s widely consumed, and sold, across the U.S.

Fry bread, a dense dough that’s hand-shaped into circles, fried, and served with various toppings, was invented in the 19th century when the U.S. government sent rations to reservations and tribal members were fighting to stave off starvation. Using the resources available, fry bread quickly became a staple. It’s since transformed into a comfort food for special occasions.

“It was something given out during the Trail of Tears,” said Katie Miles, co-founder and co-owner of Frybread Factory in Tacoma. “Now, it’s more like a cultural thing for us.”

Now, the possibilities are endless for how you top your fry bread. You can go sweet or savory, dressed up or dressed down, even use fry bread as a component in another dish, like fry bread tacos and fryburgers, which use fry bread as buns.

“It started out as something sad and tragic,” Miles said. “Now it brings happiness and love.”

Fresh fry bread by Ernestine Jim Courtesy: Ernestine Jim

Fry bread and Indian Tacos

Frybread Factory says their recipe is more about the process than the exact ingredients, which are a secret. In any case, they don’t measure anything. Instead, they took about two years of painstaking experimentation with Miles, her sister and co-owner Alissa Varbel and their mom, Lori Varbel, who passed away in July 2022, just two years shy of the business’ 20-year anniversary. Alissa was also mentored by a Puyallup tribal elder who passed down her secrets and techniques.

Miles says she “worked on perfecting the recipe with her family.”

Now, the sisters run the operation with Miles’ husband, James, and their five children.

One of the most popular dishes made with fry bread is the Indian taco, which is fry bread topped like a taco. You can get an Indian taco at The Frybread Factory in Tacoma, at Walli Pi’s in Toppenish and with Ernestine Jim in Nisqually, a new vendor whose fry bread operation has yet to be named. Most fry bread chefs also offer some kind of Indian taco.

Recently becoming a vendor, Jim runs a truck and canopy and is working toward a storefront. She has some options in mind for her business name, but is considering a vote with customers to determine the winner.

Jim lets customers dress their fry bread as they please. She says butter and cinnamon sugar are the most popular toppings. Her personal favorite is peanut butter with chocolate-covered raisins.

If you feel like a full meal instead of a snack or sweet-tooth solver, there are meal options as well. Jim makes homemade chili for her Indian tacos and also offers “Rez burgers” with your choice of toppings. On Tuesdays, you can order Fiesta Fry Bread, which includes taco meat, refried beans, lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, onions, salsa and sour cream.

Fry bread taco by Ernestine Jim Courtesy: Ernestine Jim

Walli Pi’s in Toppenish also offers Indian tacos with homemade chili, as well as “Rez dogs,” hot dogs with fry bread buns, and Powwow stew served with fry bread. Walli P’s is run by Walli Tadena, who works full time during the week and makes fry bread for supplemental income. If she could, she said in an interview with McClatchy that she’d cook full time.

In fact, Tadena has been cooking for most of her life, with her family and for others. She grew up in Toppenish and is invested in the community. She believes in doing whatever you can to help your community, “even if you have to do it with fry bread.”

Friendly fry bread competition

Walli P’s recently began traveling the Pacific Northwest to serve food at powwows. They aren’t worried about the other vendors selling fry bread, because each of them will have a unique recipe and process, all based on family recipes that have been handed down. With so many attendees at powwows as well, Tadena says it doesn’t matter who a customer buys from, since mostly everyone there wants fry bread.

“It’s nice to know that people trust you to make their food,” Tadena said.

Jim feels similarly.

“It is an honor, a true honor, to be here to serve the people and to receive feedback on their experiences,” Jim said. “I am here to serve and if I personally can improve for a better experience, I am willing to put in the work.”

All three vendors are selling near firework stands this year, one of the most surefire locations to find fry bread. Yet none feel threatened or competitive in regard to other pop-ups or trucks, they respect the continuation of family recipes. Plus, fry bread sales increase across the map leading up to Independence Day, which is why fry bread vendors are so commonly near firework stands.

Tadena says the big influence from the firework industry helps out fry bread sales and its customer base. Fireworks are a diverse commodity, wanted by many people with varying backgrounds. By introducing such a diverse consumer base to fry bread, vendors can grow their brand.

All three of these women are working on growing their reach and customer base. Tadena says she’s hoping to make fry bread more mainstream. They all share a joy in and passion for making fry bread.

“It takes hard work and self-discipline to carry on the teachings and history of fry bread, and to share it with many different people is absolutely fantastic to me,” said Jim.