Indian reservation selling energy bars

An American Indian-owned company has gone back to its roots for a healthy, natural alternative to the energy bars now on the market: the Tanka Bar, made with South Dakota bison and Wisconsin cranberries.

The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation company came up with the Tanka Bar as a modern-day spinoff of a traditional Lakota food called "wasna" that sustained Great Plains Indians during long trips centuries ago.

The Tanka Bar is produced and marketed by Native American Natural Foods, whose primary owners, Karlene Hunter and Mark Tilsen, also run a direct marketing company, Lakota Express.

After two years of development, the bars launch Friday at the Black Hills Pow Wow in Rapid City and will be available for sale online at http://www.tankabar.com and eventually at some stores.

Hunter said native people were healthy before they started eating food with which they were unaccustomed. That has led to epidemic rates of diabetes and other health-related problems, she said.

"We're getting back to a healthy lifestyle and a healthy diet," Hunter said of the new venture. "The buffalo supported everything to us _ meat, utensils, clothing. It's coming full circle."

Bison meat is high in protein and low in cholesterol. The cranberries add antioxidants and a sweet, natural flavor, Tilsen said. The bars look like jerky but have a lot more water in them than the dried meat, he said. Each package is sealed with a unique card that keeps the bars fresh.

"It will be the first protein bar on the market with meat in it and the first dried meat product that has fruit in it," Tilsen said.

"We feel like we're creating a new category in the (energy bar) market."

Each 1-ounce bar has 70 calories and will retail for $2.25. The smaller Tanka Bites, which are half the size, also go on sale Friday. Tanka Trail, a mix of shredded buffalo and dried cranberries, is due out in the spring.

Children on the Pine Ridge Reservation who helped test the various recipes dubbed the Tanka Bar "buffalo candy," Tilsen said.

The buffalo snacks are a lot healthier than cheap snacks loaded with processed ingredients, said Dr. Kevin Weiland, an internal medicine physician from Rapid City who wrote a book called "The Dakota Diet" about the health benefits of eating grass-fed buffalo and other such food from the plains.

Weiland was part of an upcoming PBS documentary filmed earlier this year featuring Beau LeBeau, a Lakota man who lost more than 60 pounds in 100 days, lowered his cholesterol and reduced the fat in his liver simply by eating bison and other natural foods.

"He basically is a diet-controlled diabetic by what he's eating," Weiland said.

One of the people who helped with development of the Tanka Bar, buffalo expert Duane Lammers of Hermosa, said more Americans are discovering the benefits of eating bison, though the market is minuscule compared to beef.

Most jerky eaters are young men, but the Tanka Bar's sweet taste and softer texture will attract health-conscious people of all ages because they taste good, aren't salty and stick to the ribs, he said.

"I think this is a product that is going to appeal to people as a snack, whether it's at a golf course or just out for a day hike," Lammers said.

"If you're not starved to death when you eat the first one, it seems to carry you pretty well to the next meal."

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On the Net:

Tanka Bars: http://www.tankabar.com