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/lp/wiley/bodies-beads-bones-and-feathers-the-masking-tradition-of-mardi-gras-bQDDk1Kli2
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Copyright
- Copyright © 2004 Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company
- ISSN
- 0893-0465
- eISSN
- 1548-744X
- DOI
- 10.1525/city.2004.16.1.117
- Publisher site
- See Article on Publisher Site
Abstract
n Mardi Gras day, St. Joseph’s day, “Super Sunday,†and at occasional special performances, gangs of Mardi Gras Indians—with names such as the Wild Tchoupitoulas, Golden Eagles, Golden Arrows, Guardians of the Flame, 9th Ward Hunters, Wild Magnolias, Golden Star Hunters, Young Cheyennes, White Eagles, Skulls and Bones, Fi-Yi-Yi—celebrate community and freedom by masking in elaborate suits of beads, sequins, and feathers, and by parading through the streets of New Orleans.1 Traceable to influences from both African and Native American cultures of the Plains, the costumes are fantastic, colorful, and wonderful in their intricacy, imagination, and daring. They can cost thousands of dollars and consume hundreds of dedicated hours to sew over the course of a year’s work. In a tradition that goes back more than one hundred twenty years (see Smith 1994 for a historical and pictorial rendering of Mardi Gras Indian traditions), Mardi Gras Indian costumes pay homage to Native Americans. The costumes are sewn by those who wear them, as well as by their relatives and friends. The work is an intersection of individuals with their communities. The tradition holds that a suit is worn in a yearly cycle of ceremonial displays, and then it
Journal
City & Society – Wiley
Published: Jun 1, 2004