The Mardi Gras Indians of New Orleans, Louisiana are one of the most fascinating Mardi Gras traditions that have managed to survive through the ages, ride the wave of wealth and depressions, political changes, and cultural tides.
The organization was formed by a secret male African American society in the back rooms of the 9th Ward. This ensemble of a very small, handpicked individuals would meet and discuss the theme of the costume they would present that year then the seamstress of the group commonly a man would start the arduous painstaking process of sewing and constructing the elaborate garments. The seamstress would be bent over under a tiny spotlight from there on out for hundreds of hours to produce these masterpieces of cultural representation.
The pieces are comprised of thousands of beads all of which tell a story. Beads are strung and sewn point to point in the design outline and then fixed with minute stitches across the string. The seamstress of the group is the sole one trusted to bring the vision to life. These ceremonial costumes are known to be some of the best examples of African – American folk art in North America and are rarely seen outside a few culturally isolated neighborhoods.
The black Indian masking tradition sprang from a myriad of African American heritage and nineteenth century experience in Creole Louisiana. The ritualistic combination of dance, music chanting, and use of ceremonial textiles is still relatively mysterious to the Anglo community at large. In Colonial America foundations forged in the early Afro – American experience evoked distinctive expressions of a transposed heritage that managed to remain remarkably consistent and intact. One of these obscure phenomena to emerge was the Mardi Gras Indians in New Orleans.
Over the years the Indians have been trivialized by the uneducated public as simply a colorful costumed parade of Pre – Lenten celebrations in the city. The Indian however is by situation and choice not of Native ancestry nor part of the official, public, or elite Carnival celebrations. They have also chosen not to be part of rural folk tradition or mainstream religious expression. They are cloaked in privacy but very influential within the working classes of the black neighborhoods in which they exist.
As Africans made their way into the French Louisiana, they entered a blended culture of which they were only one of several forcibly immigrated groups. These varying cultures rallied together under circumstances and common situations. The groups turned to each other repeatedly for support and safe harbor. By the 1800’s the African creole culture was one of six ethnic groups with a sizeable creole population. They played a notable role in the economy and society of the city. Sunday gatherings in Congo Square can see 500- 600 attendees; there were hundreds of people performing a circular cultural dance called the calinda to the beat of various drums.
This time frame also saw the peak of Caribbean infusion into the area and they brought with them their cultural Voodoo, the indigenous religion of Haiti and all sorts of indigenous music, magic, and medicine practices that served these new people to this area with expression of their heritage and avenue to power on the community spectrums. The Mardi Gras Indians were sprouted from these roots and are based on the mixture of some of these religious roots and idealism and practices. The Indians do not put on a show but follow rituals enacting power and pride. Most individual accounts of a successful Indian mask making session include a sensation of being possessed.
The second carnival, as it was called, surfaced when the Louisiana State Legislature made it legal to march on Mardi Gras Day from sunrise to sunset. The first of the African American krewes Zulu did just that. Today they still parade down the routes of the first carnival krewes and act as an escort to Rex. Two distinctive neighborhood expressions of the second carnival genre also appeared in the 1880s: the Baby Dolls and the Mardi Gras Indians. Neither have been part of the traditional official carnival nor particularly influenced by white society nor conventions.
The Indian masking tradition is used by the black working class males of the tribes to metaphorically express the marginalized position of the Native and African American by using mediums of expression deeply rooted in African heritage. In the 1880s when the oral history of the Mardi Gas Indians began the first group “The Creole Wild West “ was founded by Becate Batiste , a Seventh Ward creole descent. The tribes were established as benevolent societies, not social or pleasure clubs, or carnival krewes and that remains to this day. Traditionally, their only public appearances are made on Mardi Gras Day and Saint Joseph Night in the neighborhood. The tribes are stabilizing and powerful groups in the black community. The members affiliate with different tribes such as Golden Star Hunters, Black Eagles, Yellow Pocohontas, White Cloud among many others. The formed Indian Council estimates there are about 32 tribes with an average of 10 -15 members each. They are basically defined by neighborhood, cultural and aesthetic preferences within the territory.
Challenge and competition through drumming, chanting, dancing, oral poetry, and costume are the venues through which tribes test each other and gain supremacy. During the fall the Indians can be found practicing in local bars and clubs. Each tribe has a hierarchy of assignments and roles for members. These include Wild Man, Medicine Man, Spy Boy, First Flag, Second Flag, Council Chief, Second Chief, Big Chief, and Witch Doctor. A complicated well-rehearsed ritual is developed to prepare the tribe to meet other tribes in confrontations designed to intimidate and subjugate. The Chief uses direct tribe signals and street directions. Prior to World War II confrontations took place largely in an area cleared to build the Superdome. The Indians still parade down the street and their cry still sends chills down the back of most downtown people and smiles on the faces of those who know of them.
Their costumes are basically made up of three elements, leggings, a tunic and elaborate belt, and an enormous headdress. It can also include gloves, a separate mask, and handheld accessories. The suits can weigh more than 100 pounds and cost several thousands of dollars. Each designer designs and creates his costume in relative secrecy until the finishing is revealed. There can be up to as many 20 helpers in the end stretch and there are no professional designers or craftsmen involved. The emphasis is on personal creation and commitment. Several months are spent creating these elaborate ensembles. The suits are not usually reused or repeated. With the media discovery of the Indians in the 1970s some of the organizations have participated in shows, exhibits, Jazz Fest or public performances in recent times. These public appearances have been able to finance the expenses for the making of these costumes which have continued to climb. Distinctive differences in aesthetic expression exist most of the time by neighborhoods.
The Mardi Gras Indians history is an oral and closely private due to choice. Recent public interest in the Indians has been met by mixed reactions from its members. While these opportunities have expanded possibilities for their creations to be seen by the public and appreciated by a larger audience, that was never their intention. Some of them have felt exploited by the exposure of this private culture and feel like the attempts to explain the Mardi Gras Indian culture to the outside world have often trivialized the concepts at the core of their spiritual being.
