The Bannock Lady brings best bannock burgers to Canada Day celebrations

By Rick Garrick

PAYS PLAT FIRST NATION—Jeanette Posine of Pays Plat First Nation, also known as the Bannock Lady, cooked up some of her fry bread bannock burgers at the Canada Day celebrations in Thunder Bay.

“Making the bannock on site, people are drawn to it,” says Posine, who operates the food and beverage concession at Chippewa Park Pavilion. “And they come and (check it out).”

Posine made about 900 bannock burgers to sell at the Canada Day celebrations.

“They will be all sold tonight,” Posine says. “They’re burgers and sauce and that’s about it — something simple.”

Posine says her customers gave her the Bannock Lady name. She has been selling bannock burgers for about eight years in Thunder Bay.

“I have a licence with the City of Thunder Bay, which means I have insurance,” Posine says. “I follow the health regulations with the [Thunder Bay District] Health Unit and the [Thunder Bay Fire Rescue] checks on my fire extinguishers, et cetera. And the police does a criminal record check when we apply for our license.”

Posine says her customer base has been growing since she began operations. In addition to the Chippewa Park Pavilion concession, she usually sells her bannock burgers at various events around the city which include: the Anishnawbe Keeshigun Aboriginal Festival at Fort William Historical Park, the Folklore Festival at Fort William Gardens and Curling Club, and the Annual Christmas Aboriginal Fine Arts and Crafts Gift Show and Sale at the Victoriaville Centre.

“They follow me around to city events,” Posine says. “And they make the trip out to Chippewa [Park].”

Chippewa Park is located about seven kilometres southeast of the James Street Swing Bridge on City Road, formerly on Fort William reserve land that was surrendered to the government and sold to the city in 1922.

“My last order was for 500 bannock, that was delivered to the [Thunder Bay] Community Auditorium,” Posine says. “And I have some weddings to cater to.”

Posine enjoys selling bannock burgers at the Canada Day celebrations.

“It’s exciting to see the old customers and the new customers,” Posine says. “People have heard about the bannock burger and then they come here and say: ‘Oh, can I try one of those.’”

Posine says the secret to her bannock is the offering she makes to the Creator in the morning when she plans to make bannock.

“In the morning I put out my offering to the Creator,” Posine says, “hoping for a great day and my food turning out.”

Posine employed four staff to help with serving and sales during the Canada Day celebrations.

“They’ve been doing this with me [previously], so they know what is expected of them,” Posine says. “And when we start getting long lineups, they know how to handle them.”

Seine River’s Ira Johnson and Pic River’s Tanya Gignac jumped at the opportunity to work at Posine’s bannock burger booth.

“It’s a really nice day for it,” Johnson says. “Everything is prepared, so it is really enjoyable. Everything is laid out so I’m not having to scramble so much.”

Gignac says the business was “pretty consistent” at Posine’s booth.

“Everybody loves her bannock and everything else that she makes,” Gignac says. “It’s very highly recommended.”

Karen Mannisto and Michelle McKenzie Lander also enjoyed working at Posine’s bannock burger booth.

“Jeanette and I have been friends forever, so I enjoy being out here and helping her and meeting the public and just greeting everyone and serving her food,” Mannisto says.

“People love bannock burgers,” Lander says. “I’ve been helping Jeanette for about four years now. There are still a few people that ask what bannock is, but there are some that just come up and place their order because they just know how good it is.”