Bannock Stories

Reader's Bannock Stories

"Ahhhh, bannock -- the bread of life! When I was 16 I was about to marry a Metis Cree man and his sisters (he had many) told me that I could not marry their brother until I had proven to them that I could make good bannock. They bought a 20-lb bag of flour and a pail of lard and a tin of baking powder. I had to make all that flour into bannock. Needless to say, we had a wonderful day of laughter and eating. The girls (his sisters) all took bannock home for their families. We laugh about this to this day (more than 30 years have passed).
– Nancy Prince

"My recipe is: 2 cups flour; 2 tbsp baking powder; 2 tbsp sugar; 1 egg; milk to consistency. If you're baking, add oil (that was my first mistake -- I never did)."
– S. Hambler

"Kenny Blacksmith, a former chief of the Cree community of Mistissini of northern Quebec, told me that they learned to make bannock from the Scottish who settled up in Northern Quebec several hundred years ago. They did not have flour before the arrival of the Europeans. When he went to Scotland a couple of years back, he had the priviledge of teaching the Scottish again how to make bannock."
– Jacques Dalton

"Like another 'Native American specialty', the fry-bread in the Western U.S., bannock also had its roots in the Old World. It is not purely Scots, but Celtic, in origin. The early Celtic settlers to the New World, both Scots and Irish, had their own versions of bannock. There are towns in Ireland and Scotland named for the bread (and also a county in Idaho, although bannock was first introduced into the Northeast U.S. and eastern Canada.)"
– Annielaurie Burke

"Here is a short bannock story: During the trapping heydays, these two trapper friends went off to do winter trapping for furs. When they finally wrapped up their season and set out to go home, they were just about out of food. Although they did have wild meat, they treasured bannock, for bannock seems to taste better in the bush.

As they were hiking back home, they camped one last time and only had one small piece of bannock to share between the two of them. So, they were both hungry when they went to bed.

One of the trappers work up in the middle of the night and was ravenous. He thought, "I'll eat my piece of bannock right now, and I can have a good sleep." So he did. But, before he could stop himself, he ate the whole piece of bannock, and then he had a good sleep.

His buddy woke up first because he was looking forward to his share of bannock. But alas, it was gone. He woke up his partner and asked, "Who ate up our bannock?"

His buddy said, "I did. You see, I had a dream last night. I dreamed that we both died, and you went to a good place and I went to a place not so good. So, I thought, since you were going to a good place, and was sure you would have a lot of bannock to eat there, I came back here and ate up the small piece of bannock."
– Billy Joe

My name is Josephine, but I am better known as Jobannock. I am a first nation, and I have had this nickname for as long as I remember. My grandfather gave me this name because I was a large baby and loved to eat his bannock. I have memories of the warmth that it left in my tummy. My mom didn't make it for us so my younger brother and I would attempt to make it ourselves at age 5 and 6. My mom had a wood cook stove which we would have to light first, then we would create our masterpiece, although our older sister Rosey thought it was a disaster for she was the one who had to clean up after us. Our bannock usually turned out thin and hard totally inedible, and my hands and arms would be full of grease burns.

One day at school this girl that I had just met had a sandwich that she was hiding. I realized what it was and traded my baloney sandwich for her bannock and proudly showed the rest of my class my good fortune. Her mother made the best bannock and everyone wanted a taste and this young girl was shocked and never traded sandwiches with me after that.

When introducing myself I try Josie, but Jobannock prevails. An elder confronted me and said to me there will never be another Jobannock. Now I am proud to be Jobannock because the name is symbolic to who I am and where I come from.
– Josie Whitehead

In December 2002, my 30-year-old husband had a heart attack. As an Aboriginal couple we have heard all of the information about diabetes and heart disease but it took his heart attack for us to try to live a healthier lifestyle. We enjoy eating baked bannock. But, it is usually made with things that are not so good for us. While visiting my grandmother one afternoon I told her of my problem. She said that when she was young they didn't always have things and she suggested that I use milk instead of lard. I think the next modification I will try is to use whole wheat flour instead of white flour.

Light Bannock Recipe
2 cups Flour
3 tsp. Baking powder
1 Egg white
1 cup 1% Milk

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix flour and baking powder. In measuring cup add a lightly beaten egg white to 1 cup of milk. Combine the dry and wet ingredients. Knead and be prepared to add more flour as you knead so the bannock will not be sticky. Place on an ungreased baking sheet. Flatten it out and poke holes on top with a fork. Place in the oven for about 10 minutes. Take it out and flip it over. Bake for another 10 minutes or so until it is golden brown.
– Kristine Dreaver-Charles

Last week I read the bannock story. Memories of my dad's bannock came to me and I can still, to this day, smell the bannock he brought home from the trapline. This story evoked vivid memories of my childhood and the special bannock.

My father was a trapper and fisherman in northern Saskatchewan. He traveled by boat or dogteam and his food was always packed in a special wooden box called the grub box. My brothers and I would look for his bannock when he came home. The bannock was always dark brown because it was cooked over a wood stove or open fire. What a nice smoky taste it had and I have never experienced anything like it again. Thank you letting me share my bannock memory.
–Donna Carriere Mirasty

The sunday school at my Church, St. Mark's United in Whitby, Ontario, recently did a unit on the Huron Christmas Carol. As a parishioner and Akela of the Cub Pack that meets at the church I was asked if, as a part of it, I could do a unit on bannock. For five weeks I prepared bannock on Saturday night and built a fire in the church parking lot over which we roasted bannock on a stick. It was such a hit that the Minister approached me about providing bannock for the congregational communion prior to Christmas.
–Duncan McDonald

Visit these web sites to learn more about bannock:

• http://collections.ic.gc.ca/teaching/bannock
• http://www.orkneyjar.com/tradition/harvest/hairst7.htm
• www.recipesource.com/ethnic/americas/native
• www.twobay.com/bannock.htm
• www.yorku.ca/yuoc/bannock.html