New Orleans Mardi Gras a Csae Study in the Arts
Mardi Gras Indians gathering along Bayou St. John for "Super Sunday" 1991
Mardi Gras Indians (besides known as Blackness Masking Indians) are black funfair revelers in New Orleans, Louisiana, who dress up for Mardi Gras in suits influenced by Native American ceremonial apparel.
Collectively, their organizations are called "tribes". There are well-nigh 38 tribes which range in size from one-half a dozen to several dozen members. The groups are largely independent, simply a pair of umbrella organizations loosely coordinates the Uptown Indians and the Downtown Indians.
In addition to Mardi Gras Day, many of the tribes also parade on Saint Joseph'southward Solar day (March 19) and the Sunday nearest to Saint Joseph'southward Day ("Super Lord's day"). Traditionally, these were the but times Mardi Gras Indians were seen in public in full regalia. The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival began the do of hiring tribes to announced at the Festival too. In recent years information technology has become more common to see Mardi Gras Indians at other festivals and parades in the urban center.
Nonetheless the popularity of such activities for tourists and residents alike, the phenomenon of the Mardi Gras Indians is said to reflect both a vital musical history and an equally vital endeavor to express internal social dynamics.[1]
History [edit]
Chief and members of the "Xanthous Pocahontas" tribe, St. Joseph'due south Day, 1942
Mardi Gras Indians have been practicing their traditions in New Orleans at least since the mid-19th century, possibly earlier. The history of the Mardi Gras Indians is shrouded in mystery and sociology.
Congo Square [edit]
Mardi Gras Indian getting ready
In 1740, New Orleans' Congo Square was a cultural centre for African music and trip the light fantastic toe.[2] New Orleans was more liberal than many Southern cities, and on Sundays African slaves gathered to sing folk songs, play traditional music, and trip the light fantastic toe.[2] The lively parties were recounted past a Northern observer every bit being "indescribable... Never volition you see gayer countenances, demonstrations of more forgetfulness of the past and the future, and more entire abandonment to the joyous existence to the present moment."[3] The idea of letting loose and embracing traditional African music and dance is a backbone of the Mardi Gras Indians practise.[2]
Native American and African American encounters [edit]
As a major southern trade port, New Orleans became a cultural melting pot for the most role. During the late 1740s and 1750s, many enslaved Africans fled to the bayous of Louisiana where they encountered Native Americans. Years later, later on the Civil War, hundreds of freed slaves joined the U.Southward. Ninth Cavalry Regiment, also known as Buffalo Soldiers.[ii] The Buffalo Soldiers fought, killed, forced, and aided the mass removal and relocation of the Plains Indians on the Western Borderland. After returning to New Orleans, many ex-soldiers joined popular Wild W shows, well-nigh notably Buffalo Bill's Wild West.[2] The show wintered in New Orleans from 1884 to 1885 and was hailed by the Daily Picayune as "the people's choice". In that location was at least i black cowboy in the prove, and in that location were numerous black cowhands.[4]
On Mardi Gras in 1885, 50 to 60 Plains Indians marched in native dress on the streets of New Orleans. Later on that year, it is believed the first Mardi Gras Indian gang was formed; the tribe was named "The Creole Wild West" and was near likely composed of members of Buffalo Bill'southward Wild West show.[ii] However, the "Indian gangs" might predate their appearance in the City. A source from 1849 refers to black performers on Congo Square fully covered in "the plumes of the peacock."[five]
The origins of the Mardi Gras Indians accept too been traced to mock-war performances past warriors from the Kingdom of Kongo.[half dozen]
Suits [edit]
Mardi Gras Indian suits toll thousands of dollars in materials alone and can weigh upward of ane hundred pounds.[7] A suit usually takes between six and nine months to program and complete. Each Indian designs and creates his own accommodate; elaborate bead patches depict meaningful and symbolic scenes.[8] Chaplet, feathers, and sequins are integral parts of a Mardi Gras Indian conform. Uptown New Orleans tribes tend to have more sculptural and abstruse African-inspired suits; downtown tribes take more pictorial suits with heavy Native American influences.[nine]
The suits are revealed on Super Sunday and rival professional costume designers. Even though men dominate the unlike tribes, women can become Mardi Gras Indian "Queens" who make their own costumes and masks. The suits contain volume, giving the clothing a sculptural sensibility. Darryl Montana, son of the Large Chief of the Yellowish Pocahontas "Hunters" tribe, states that the suits each twelvemonth cost around $five,000 in materials that can include up to 300 yards of downward feather trimming.[10] The suits tin take upward to a year to complete every bit each artist needs to lodge materials, pattern the layout, sew and dewdrop. The beadwork is entirely done past hand and characteristic a combination of colour and texture. Some of the suits are displayed in museums throughout the country.[11]
Parade formation and protocol [edit]
Uptown Mardi Gras Indians Come across on Mardi Gras Solar day
The Mardi Gras Indians play diverse traditional roles. Many blocks alee of the Indians are plain clothed informants keeping an eye out for whatsoever danger. The procession begins with "spyboys," dressed in light "running suits" that allow them the freedom to motility quickly in case of emergency.[2] Next comes the "start flag," an ornately dressed Indian carrying a token tribe flag.[2] Closest to the "Large Main" is the "Wildman" who usually carries a symbolic weapon.[two] Finally, there is the "Big Principal." The "Big Chief" decides where to go and which tribes to meet (or ignore). The entire grouping is followed by percussionists and revelers.[2]
During the march, the Indians dance and sing traditional songs detail to their gang. They utilize mishmash languages loosely based on dissimilar African dialects.[four] The "Big Chief" decides where the group will parade; the parade road is dissimilar each time. When ii tribes come beyond each other, they either pass by or run into for a symbolic fight. Each tribe lines up and the "Big Chiefs" taunt each other about their suits and their tribes. The drum beats of the two tribes intertwine, and the face off is complete. Both tribes continue on their style.[12]
Violence [edit]
In the early days of the Indians, Mardi Gras was a day of both reveling and bloodshed. "Masking" and parading was a time to settle grudges.[4] This part of Mardi Gras Indian history is immortalized in James Sugar Boy Crawford's song, "Jock O Mo" (ameliorate known and often covered as "Iko Iko"), based on their taunting chants. However, in the late 1960s, Allison Montana, "Chief of Chiefs", fought to finish violence between the Mardi Gras Indian Tribes.[xiii] He said, "I was going to make them stop fighting with the gun and the pocketknife and first fighting with the needle and thread."[xiv] Today, the Mardi Gras Indians are not plagued by violence; instead, they base their fights over the "prettiness" of their suits.[4]
Tribes of the Mardi Gras Indian Nation [edit]
- 7th Ward Creole Hunters
- 7th Ward Hard Headers
- 7th Ward Hunters
- ninth Ward Hunters
- Algiers Warriors one.v
- Apache Hunters
- Black Cherokee
- Black Eagles
- Blackness Feather
- Black Hawk Hunters
- Blackness Mohawks
- Black Seminoles
- Burning Spears
- Carrollton Hunters
- Cheyenne Hunters
- Chippewa Hunters
- Choctaw Hunters
- Comanche Hunters
- Congo Nation
- Creole Osceola
- Creole Wild Due west
- Flaming Arrows
- Geronimo Hunters
- Golden Arrows
- Aureate Blades
- Golden Comanche
- Aureate Eagles
- Golden Feather Hunters
- Golden Star Hunters
- Guardians of the Flame
- Hard Caput Hunters
- Louisiana Star Choctaw Nation
- LoyalBreed Apache Warriors
- Mandingo Warriors
- Mohawk Hunters
- Monogram Hunters
- Morning Star Hunters
- Northside Skull and Bones Gang
- Cherry Hawk Hunters
- Blood-red Flame Hunters
- Blood-red White and Blue
- Seminole Hunters
- Seminole (Mardi Gras Indian Tribe)
- Spirit of FiYiYi (aka Fi-Yi-Yi)
- Timbuktu Warriors
- Problem Nation
- Unified Nation
- Uptown Warriors
- Washitaw Nation
- White Cloud Hunters
- White Eagles
- Wild Apache
- Wild Bogacheeta
- Wild Tchoupitoulas
- Wild Magnolias
- Wild Mohicans
- Yellow Pocahontas
- Yellowish Jackets
- Young Navaho
- Young Brave Hunters
- Young Monogram Hunters
- Young Cheyenne[ix]
- Immature Seminole Hunter
Similar pan-American cultural practices [edit]
- Second Line Parades - New Orleans and Cuba
- Ruberos groups – Cuba
- Escolas de Samba, Capoeira – Brazil
- Rara – Haiti
- 19th Century Jametta Carnival – Trinidad
- Jokonnu – West Indies
- Sociedad de las Congas – Panama
- L'agya – Martinique[2]
In pop civilization [edit]
- The HBO series Treme features one tribe of Mardi Gras Indians, the Guardians of the Flame, in one of the major plot lines weaving through the series, featuring preparations, the parades, as well as strained relationships with the police department.
- The song "Iko Iko" mentions two Mardi Gras Indian tribes.
- Beyoncé's 2016 visual album Lemonade showcases a Mardi Gras Indian circling a dining table, paying homage to the New Orleans culture.[fifteen]
- In the Freeform series Cloak & Dagger, based on the eponymous Marvel Comics characters, Tyrone Johnson's begetter and blood 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.[16]
References [edit]
- ^ Draper, David Elliott (1973). The Mardi Gras Indians: The Ethnomusicology of Black Associations in New Orleans. Tulane Academy PhD Dissertation.
- ^ a b c d due east f thousand h i j grand Smith, Michael, and Alan Govenar. Mardi Gras Indians. Gretna: Pelican Pub. Co. 1994. Impress.
- ^ Flint, Timothy. Recollections of the Last Ten Years. Boston: Cummings, Hilliard, and Visitor, 1826.
- ^ a b c d Gaudet, Marcia, and James McDonald. Mardi Gras, gumbo, and zydeco: Readings in Louisiana Civilisation. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi. 2003. Impress.
- ^ Dewulf, Jeroen. The Missing Link between Congo Square and the Mardi Gras Indians? The Anonymous Story of 'The Singing Girl of New Orleans' (1849), Louisiana History Vol. LX, No. 1 (Winter 2019): 83-9. Impress.
- ^ Dewulf, Jeroen. From the Kingdom of Kongo to Congo Square: Kongo Dances and the Origins of the Mardi Gras Indians, Lafayette, NO: University of Louisiana at Lafayette Press, 2017. Impress.
- ^ Brennan, Jonathan. When Brer Rabbit meets Coyote: African-Native American Literature. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. 2003. Print.
- ^ Bragg, Rick. "Another Battle of New Orleans: Mardi Gras," New York Times (Feb. 19, 1995).
- ^ a b Moser, Margaret. "My Gang Don't Bow Downward: Mardi Gras Indian Main Kevin Goodman leads his tribe to Texas," Austin Relate (May 5, 2006).
- ^ Cohen, Alina (February 12, 2018). "How the "Mardi Gras Indians" Compete to Craft the Nearly Stunning Costumes". Artsy . Retrieved October nineteen, 2020.
- ^ "Mardi Gras Indian Masks". Mardi Gras New Orleans. north.d. Retrieved Oct 19, 2020.
- ^ Gaudet, Marcia, and James McDonald. Mardi Gras, gumbo, and zydeco: Readings in Louisiana Culture. Jackson: University Printing of Mississippi. 2003. Impress.
- ^ Salaam, Kalamu (1997). "He's the Prettiest": A Tribute to Big Principal Allison "Tootie" Montana'south 50 years of Mardi Gras Indian Suiting. New Orleans: New Orleans Museum of Fine art. Print.
- ^ Baum, Dan (2010). Nine Lives (Impress ed.). New York: Spiegal Paperbacks.
- ^ "The Mardi Gras Indian Of 'Lemonade'". NPR . Retrieved Feb 2, 2018.
- ^ "Cloak & Dagger Just Reinvented an Important Piece of Tyrone'southward Mythology". CBR . Retrieved June 22, 2018.
Further reading [edit]
- Mitchell, Reid (1995). "Mardi Gras Indians". All on a Mardi Gras Day: Episodes in the History of New Orleans Funfair. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. pp. 113–130. ISBN0-674-01623-eight.
- Dewulf, Jeroen (2017). From the Kingdom of Kongo to Congo Foursquare: Kongo Dances and the Origins of the Mardi Gras Indians. Lafayette, LA: University of Louisiana at Lafayette Press. ISBN9781935754961.
External links [edit]
- Big Primary Demond Melancon
- Bette Midler with Mardi Gras Indian Show
- Mardi Gras Indian Amusement
- St. Joseph'southward Night in New Orleans: Out After Night with the Wild Indians
- Mardi Gras Indian Influence on the Music of New Orleans
- "Large 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 Mardis Gras Indians posted to tumblr
- Mardi Gras Indians – "Battling" on St. Josephs Nighttime PBS
- Gallery of St. Joseph'southward Day 2016 Parade
hernandezpaind1973.blogspot.com
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mardi_Gras_Indians
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