Mardi Gras Indian Hall of Fame
6th August 2018 · 0 Comments
A change is gonna come…
By Geraldine Wyckoff
Contributing Writer
On this 20th anniversary of the Mardi Gras Indian Hall of Fame, with major changes in the works, Cherice “Queen Reesie” Harrison-Nelson reflects on the past and looks forward to the future. The heartbeat of the organization that was the brain child of Roslyn Smith, the then principal of the Oretha Castle Haley Elementary School where the Hall of Fame originated, Queen Reesie naturally has some favorite moments that took place during the annual awards ceremonies. Hall of Fame ceremonies and events continue this week at various locations.
“I think the first one (ceremony) was special because my father (Big Chief Donald Harrison Sr., who had recently passed) had brought the Indians to the school and it was really a living legacy to him,” Cherice offers, adding that her mother, Herreast Harrison received the Crystal Feather award that day in his honor. “It was also special because of Roselyn’s vision that indigenous cultural arts could enhance student achievement in a way that was interactive and fun for the students.”
“Every time I look at the picture of when Chief Delco and Chief Fi Yi Yi were stooping down and singing with the kindergarten children, I get warm and fuzzy in my heart because they were so engaged with the children,” Queen Reesie recalls. “That’s what you want – you want children to be able interact with real history, real culture.”
Ending a week of activities that starts with a kick-off party on Sunday, August 5 at the Donald Harrison Sr. Museum, where awards will be given to children and “roll call” posters will be available, a ceremony to announce the renaming of the Mardi Gras Indian Hall of Fame to Uniquely New Orleans (UNOLA)
“We’re reorganizing, rebranding and renaming,” Cherice explains, adding that it will have a real board of directors to give direction and help with fundraising so, she says, “it’s not just me.” “I’m not stepping aside, I’m still going to be fully involved but the primary focus will not be strictly Indians it will be more inclusive to the indigenous cultural traditions of the city.”
Meanwhile, this week Mardi Gras Indians will continue to be in the spotlight with a panel discussion and book signing on Monday evening at the Three Keys at the Ace Hotel and Friday morning’s breakfast at the Ashe Center with the late Big Chief Thomas Sparks being honored with a wooden feather to replace the Crystal Feather that was lost in Katrina. It being wood represents Spark’s talent and trade as a carpenter.
Not in the least irreverently, Queen Reesie calls many of the Black Indians to be recognized Saturday night at the private Crystal Feather Honorees’ Reception a “bucket list of the Mardi Gras Indian Hall of Fame.” “Even as we me move forward, it was important for me for some people to get an award under the Mardi Gras Indian name.” Among the recipients is the much deserving Alphonse “Chief Dowee” Robair of the Black Hatchet Tribe.
Dowee reached his position as a chief in the old-time, traditional way by coming up through the ranks. Robair, 42, first masked Indian at age four with the Ninth Ward Warriors alongside his stepfather, Wildman Richard Ivory Turner. It wasn’t until 1999 that he masked again this time as a flagboy with the Ninth Ward Hunters led by legendary Big Chief Rudy (Bougere) with whom he stayed until 2002. He and a large part of the gang branched off to the Red Hawk Hunters with Chief Nelson where he held the position of gang flag. He left in 2013 to join the Hard Head Hunters led by Big Chief Otto Dejean. In 2017, Robair started his own tribe with many of the former Warriors, Hunters and Red Hawks making up the Black Hatchet that debuted on the streets with 24 masking members. Notably, on Mardi Gras Day, the gang leaves from the Ninth Ward’s Tupelo Street and walks all the way uptown to A.L. Davis Park. Now that’s old school.
“As of right now, I have the biggest tribe in the Lower Ninth Ward,” declares Chief Dowee, who is most renowned for his intricate and beautifully designed beading. “I don’t get any help with my beadwork. It’s easy for me because I have a boring life,” he adds with laugh. “I go to work, come home and sew. I don’t do anything else. What seems hard to others is very easy for me. Most people might only sew two to three hours a day when I would do six to eight hours without even blinking.”
The Mardi Gras Indian Hall of Fame has impacted the New Orleans community in various ways. “Cherice has brought the Mardi Gras Indians a little closer to one another (through the organization),” says Chief Dowee. “It gives us another opportunity to be around each other just to congregate and talk and not just about Mardi Gras Indians – about everyday life. Because we’re spread out all over the city, it’s very seldom you get that many people from different tribes in the same room together just to have fun laughing. That in itself is great.”
“I think the biggest thing is always finding a way to have a presence in the schools and with young people – and never losing the tradition of where you started,” says Cherice of what she considers one of the Hall of Fame’s many accomplishments.”
“When I was at UNO, I told my professors that I had to create documents whose primary purpose was not for other academics to read but to live in the community. Because my father, who told me to get ink because ink lives, wanted those Indian names recorded, 10 publications later, I did that.”
“I learned that I’m a super woman, but I am a mere human. The thing that I think I learned the most by my encounters with individuals from this tradition is the deep love that people have for masking and the deep love that can be developed around this tradition.”
This article originally published in the August 6, 2018 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
