thumb|Mardi Gras Indians at Algiers Riverfest New Orleans 2009 showing their beadwork

The Mardi Gras Indians (also known as Black Masking Indians or Black Maskers)

Groups are largely independent, but a pair of umbrella organizations loosely coordinates the Uptown Indians and the Downtown Indians. The Mardi Gras Indian Council coordinates between more than 40 active tribes, which range in size from half a dozen to several dozen members. They use creole dialects or patois, loosely based on different African and European languages. Participants state that the tradition came to New Orleans by way of Caribbean and African cultures where the dead are honored in the Haitian Vodou religion. Skull and Bones masker Bruce "Sunpie" Barnes traveled to Africa and said he saw skeleton-like spirits and Voodoo markets. During Mardi Gras, Barnes recognizes the Guédé, a family of spirits in Haitian Vodou that are guardians of the cemetery. Skull and Bones gangs act as spiritual town guardians and carnival town criers. Jazz historian John McCusker found skeleton maskers were referenced in archives dating back to 1875. A 1902 local newspaper, Times-Democrat, referenced young Black maskers on the streets of North Claiborne Avenue, North Robertson and Annette.

Conflict

thumb|right|Mardi Gras Indian getting ready

In the early days of the Mardi Gras Indians, masking and parading was also a time to settle grudges. He said, "I was going to make them stop fighting with the gun and the knife and start fighting with the needle and thread." Today, the Mardi Gras Indians settle their fights through the "prettiness" of their suits instead of violence. Masking allowed Black Americans to celebrate their African heritage under a more acceptable guise as "Indians", while showing solidarity with, and paying tribute to, Native American ancestors and allies.

David Guss says that when Black Americans "mask" as Indigenous peoples they are not trying to be Native American; they are telling a visual story of how enslaved Africans escaped slavery in Louisiana and found refuge in nearby Native American villages. He says Black people are not ridiculing or parodying Native Americans. Guss describes the Mardi Gras Indians, Andean natives that dress as European colonists, and other examples of one ethnicity dressing or masking as another ethnicity as practising "ethnic cross-dressing".

Terminology

Donald Harrison Jr., a member of the Congo Nation group, says that his group changed their name because "some Native Americans may be angry about it", and chose an African name because they are "an African-American tribe of New Orleans".

Demond Melancon, a member of the Young Seminole Hunters, suggests the name of this cultural tradition should also change: "It's been a hidden culture for 250 years and you have to know where it really comes from." He says that because the masking tradition originated in Africa, the subculture should be called "Black Maskers". Author Michael P. Smith suggests calling them the "Maroons of Urban New Orleans".

  • In the Freeform series Cloak & Dagger, based on the eponymous Marvel Comics characters, Tyrone Johnson's father and brother were Mardi Gras Indians prior to the events of the show. When Tyrone discovers his signature cloak, it is revealed his brother was working on it while training to be a spyboy.

Endnotes

References

Sources

Further reading

References

  • From Maroons to Mardi Gras: The Role of African Cultural Retention in the Development of the Black Indian Culture of New Orleans from Liberty University
  • Mardi Gras Indians have rich history from Clarion Herald
  • Mystery in Motion: African American Spirituality in Mardi Gras from Xavier University of Louisiana
  • Fire in the Hole: Honoring Big Queen Kim Boutte with the Spirit of Fi Yi Yi and the Mandingo Warriors from Xavier University of Louisiana
  • Big Chief Demond Melancon
  • Bette Midler with Mardi Gras Indian Show
  • Mardi Gras Indian Entertainment
  • St. Joseph's Night in New Orleans: Out After Dark with the Wild Indians
  • Mardi Gras Indian Influence on the Music of New Orleans
  • "Big Chief Kevin Goodman and Mardi Gras Indian tribal history", Austin Chronicle
  • Backstreet Cultural Museum
  • Matthew Hinton, "Gallery: 7th Ward Mardi Gras Indians on Fat Tuesday 2010", The New Orleans Times-Picayune, February 16, 2010
  • Clayton Cubitt's photographs and videos of Mardi Gras Indians posted to Tumblr
  • Mardi Gras Indians – "Battling" on St. Josephs Night PBS
  • Gallery of St. Joseph's Day 2016 Parade
  • Rethinking the Historical Development of Caribbean Performance Culture from an Afro-Iberian Perspective