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Dancing in Congo Square, 1886. Mardi Gras Indians have been practicing their traditions in New Orleans since at least the 18th century. The colony of New Orleans was founded by the French in 1718, on land inhabited by the Chitimacha Tribe, and within the first decade 5,000 enslaved Africans were trafficked to the colony. Chief Allison "Tootie" Montana (December 16, 1922 – June 27, 2005), a lather by trade, was a New Orleans cultural icon who acted as the Mardi Gras Indian "Chief of Chiefs" for over 50 years. [1] [2] Tootie is revered in the Mardi Gras Indian culture as the Big Chief. Tootie was the Big Chief of the Yellow Pocahontas Tribe and made the culture On Mardi Gras Day, if you're lucky enough to see some of the Mardi Gras Indians, the first Indian you're likely to see is the Spy Boy. His job places him ahead of the Big Chief's procession. Each Spy Boy has a method to signal potential trouble or approaching rival Indian tribes with dancing, whooping, hollering, and hand language. Big Chief Demond Melancon hand beading a part of his Mardi Gras Indian suit. (C)2019 GILES CLEMENT/DEMOND MELANCON. In 2008, after Hurricane Katrina’s devastation, Melancon returned to masking. A Mardi Gras Indian at a New Orleans jazz festival in 2011 Tulane Public Relations In undated archival footage provided by the Mardi Gras Indian Council, Estabon Eugene, big chief of the Indians would meet on Mardi Gras; it was a day to settle scores." - Larry Bannock, Past President, New Orleans Mardi Gras Indian Council. Masking Indian Indians Ranks Super Sunday Keep-N-It-Real Indian Videos. Mardi Gras is full of secrets, and the Mardi Gras Indians are as much a part of that secrecy as any other carnival organization. Mardi Gras Indian Big Chief Monk Boudreaux (right) and members of his Golden Eagles tribe in March 2019 in New Orleans. Erika Goldring/Getty Images hide caption This is a cultural site dedicated to educating the public and preserving the tradition of The Mardi Gras Indians of New Orleans, Louisiana. All images and likenesses of Big Chief Andrew Justin and The Wild Treme are our sole property of the tribe. We share in hopes of keeping this celebrated tradition alive. There is no disputing that the first Mardi Gras Indian tribe, the Creole Wild West, was formed in the mid-to-late 1880s. Cultural historian Maurice Martinez, who also made the first in-depth Mardi Gras Indian film (The Black Indians of New Orleans, 1976) is emphatic in identifying the inception of Mardi Gras Indian tradition. "How did the Mardi Mardi Gras Indian suits are truly a labor of love and tradition. Justen Williams, NOTMC Learning to hand-bead with the Young Maasai Hunters at Mardi Gras Indians Sip and Sew Just as other elements vary by tribe, suits are no exception. That summer, the New Orleans Museum of Art stepped up with the exhibition He’s the Prettiest: A Tribute to Big Chief Allison “Tootie” Montana’s Fifty Years of Mardi Gras Indian Suiting. It was the first time Mardi Gras Indian regalia had ever been displayed at the prestigious museum. Everyone in New Orleans knows the essential Mardi Gras songs. The likes of “Carnival Time,” “Mardi Gras Mambo,” “Go To the Mardi Gras,” “Big Chief” and “Second-Line, Pt. 1” are Mardi Gras Indian suits are seen in the home of Big Chief Victor Harris, the Spirit of Fi-Yi-Yi, in New Orleans on Tuesday, January 23, 2024. (Staff photo by Brett Duke, The Times-Picayune) The 9th Ward Seminoles Black Masking Indian tribe Big Chief Keitoe Jones and his great niece Little Queen Zia Brumfield, 9, walk on Claiborne Avenue on Mardi Gras Day in New Orleans in 2024. Big Chief costumes take up to a year to make, cost thousands of dollars, and can weigh more than 100 pounds. The 38 or so individual tribes that participate in the Mardi Gras are loosely confederated as either Uptown or Downtown Indians, each of which wear costumes with slightly different design features. In this clip from a 1983 interview of Theodore Emile “Bo” Dollis (1944–2015), Big Chief of the Wild Magnolias, the chief describes changes in the traditions Tootie Montana is now the measure of all the Mardi Gras Indian chiefs. The city celebrates the first day of Carnival season in January as Tootie Montana Day and commissioned sculptor Sheleen Jones Famous Indian warriors and their exploits are, in fact, depicted on the beadwork “patches” that adorn some Mardi Gras Indian suits today. And the familiar Mardi Gras Indian lyric “Won’t bow down/on that dirty ground” speaks to the shared struggle of Indians and blacks to maintain dignity in the face of oppression. Big Chief Victor Harris, of the Fi-Yi-Yi, and the Mandingo Warriors Mardi Gras Indians performed last Sunday on the Jazz & Heritage Stage during the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. The crown is the elaborate headdress worn by Mardi Gras Indians. The Big Chief, the highest-ranking Mardi Gras Indian in each tribe, can have a headdress that weighs upwards of 40 pounds — some
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Photos from events, contest for the best costume, videos from master classes.
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