Today is Mardi Gras Day! The festivities signifying the final day of Carnival have a long history originating in medieval Europe. French settlers held the first Mardi Gras celebration in 1703. For many around the world, this is a time for celebration, community, and tradition, especially in the city of New Orleans. This year, Sankofa Impact is illuminating one such tradition, the Mardi Gras Indians.
The first thing one might hear is drumming, tambourines, and bold announcements on Claiborne or Orleans Avenue. Big Chiefs, Queens, and Spy Boys parade through the streets of The Big Easy announcing their presence in elaborate, colorful beaded suits. Call and response. Dancing. Rival tribes. There is simply nothing else like it.
This tradition is one that honors the history and legacy of the Black and Indigenous relationship. During the era of enslavement various indigenous tribes had safe houses on the underground railroad- aiding those who were enslaved on their journey to freedom from bondage.
Black women, men, and children from local New Orleans tribes work year round on suits intricately hand beaded to form images of ancestors, meaningful people, meaningful stories and other imagery. The garments may take the full year to design and be made, and may be worn for the duration of the year they were intended to represent.
Mardi Gras Indians, also known as Black Masking Indians, have a deep history of using their art for resistance. In the past when Mardi Gras celebrations were prohibited for Black people, they expressed their resistance through the tradition of Black Masking. This has carried through to the present day.
Sankofa Impact celebrates the Mardi Gras Indian tradition, a symbol of resilience, artistic expression, and Black cultural pride in New Orleans.
