Fry bread is full of grease, fat and carbohydrates but that isn't stopping some people from consuming a staple found at powwows, fairs and festivals throughout Indian Country. It's a source of pride and power for many people.

But with diabetes, obesity and other health problems on the rise, fry bread has come under fire. Activist Suzan Shown Harjo stirred passions when she called on Indian Country to stop eating it altogether.

"It's like giving up turkey at Thanksgiving,'' Gayle Weigle, an Ojibwe who runs FryBreadLove.org, told the Associated Press.

"Cutting fry bread out of an Indian meal would be like cutting out the main ingredient of the entire meal," Kiowa elder Carol Bronaugh told The Oklahoman.

According to the Department of Agriculture, paper plate-sized portion of fry bread has at least 700 calories, including 27 grams of fat.

Get the Story:
Health enemy No. 1? Indians' fry bread under fire (The Oklahoman 8/21)
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Indian Fry Bread Sparks Health Debate (AP 8/20)
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It's all about the fry bread (The Santa Fe New Mexican 8/19)
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Yellow Bird: Whole-wheat fry bread isn't so bad (04/26)
Yellow Bird: Tex Hall declares war on diabetes (04/11)
Column: State endorsement of fry bread will kill it (02/25)
It's Official: Fry bread is South Dakota's state bread (02/09)
South Dakota bill makes fry bread the official bread (2/7)
Anti-fry bread column stirs Indian Country passions (2/7)
Harjo: Eliminate fry bread and other 'Indian' foods (01/21)