Ronald Lewis, Keeper of the Flame of New Orleans Black cultural traditions, dies

30th March 2020   ·   0 Comments

By Geraldine Wyckoff
Contributing Writer

Ronald Lewis, who always greeted folks with his signature warm smile, had a passion for New Orleans’ Black cultural traditions. Through the decades, Lewis has played numerous roles in furthering the heritage particularly in his beloved Lower Ninth Ward neighborhood. He masked Indian and skeleton, second lined out the door with social aid and pleasure clubs, designed and sewed Mardi Gras Indian suits and other regalia, documented the culture with his “$10 camera,” curated his museum, The House of Dance & Feathers and authored a book of the same name. Ronald Lewis, who throughout his 30 years as a streetcar track repairman with the New Orleans Transit System, continued to remain socially and politically active in representing his Black heritage, died on Friday, March 20, 2020 at the age of 68.

“Mardi Gras Indians – that’s my first love,” Lewis declared in a 2016 interview. “I got involved with the culture when I was about 12 or 13 and I learned to sew from Ricky (Gettridge) who was a spyboy for the Yellow Pocahontas under Chief Tootie Montana. I didn’t mask when I first got involved. My passion is seeing a suit made. It doesn’t have to be for me; it’s just the idea of seeing that creativity come to life. Once you get involved in the Mardi Gras Indian culture, you’re always going to be involved. Like I tell people, that’s a cultural addiction.”

In 1990, Lewis and Edgar Jacobs Jr. formed the Choctaw Hunters with, at first, Jacobs as the Big Chief and Lewis running the spyboy position. At the time, the two felt the new tribe was needed to fill the void in the Lower 9th Ward as the Ninth Ward Hunters and the Flaming Arrows had not been very active at the time.

Just five years later, Lewis co-founded the Big Nine Social Aid & Pleasure Club with other members of the Choctaw Hunters. Lewis, who became president of the organization, and the others had been members of the Double Nine but weren’t satisfied that the club was doing enough community outreach. Outreach and involvement in all endeavors were always important to Lewis.

During Lewis’ lifetime journey in New Orleans’ African-American cultural traditions, he never wavered in his dedication and enthusiasm no matter his role. In the interview, he related how he felt when parading with the Big Nine saying, “To me when you get to the top of that bridge (the St. Claude Bridge) the most powerful and embracing sight to see is when your whole community is there to greet you.”

Though to some, masking Indian and parading with a social aid and pleasure club might seem to be somewhat disparate activities even though both are derived from this city’s Black neighborhoods.

“It’s one world because we make up that world,” Lewis explained. “What we end up doing is at some point cross-culture. So you might say, ‘I’m tired of masking (Indian), I’m going to parade.’ It’s made up of the same community under different titles.”

In 2003, Lewis began masking skeleton with the Northside Skull & Bone gang under the leadership of Al Morris. “I was hanging around the Backstreet in 2002 when I was getting ready to retire from the Transit System and I said, ‘This looks like fun and it won’t take a lot to do,” Lewis remembered. “So one day I asked Chief Al if I could join and be his Gatekeeper. It was my idea – to be the one who takes care of the house when the tribe is gone – and Chief Al accepted it. I wasn’t physically sound so by being the Gatekeeper compensated for it. I can dance but I can’t dance no long distance. Just like the day of a (Big Nine) parade, I can come out that door and go one or two blocks and then I jump into a convertible.”

Lewis shared his cumulative knowledge by offering tours of his museum, the House of Dance and Feathers, which is located in a small building behind his home on Tupelo Street, in, of course, the Lower Ninth Ward. “Now, my thing is telling our story,” Lewis said of he’s continued involvement with New Orleans Black cultural heritage.

Lewis has been recognized for his endeavors beyond his “across the canal” neighborhood. In 2008 he reigned as the King of the Krewe du Vieux with his wife, Queen Charlotte “Minnie” Hill, who is part of the musical Hill/Lastie/Andrews family, by his side. Lewis has also been a member of the Krewe du Jieux since its formation. “They gave me the title of the Big Macha (Big Shot) of the krewe,” Lewis said.

“It’s all connecting with the people,” said Lewis. “I think every Mardi Gras Indian or parader feels that way. For a parader when you walk out the door and you show off those fancy shoes and you’ve got a big cigar in your mouth, it’s “Bam, here I am. I’m the Big Macha.”

Ronald Lewis will be sorely missed by folks in many individual ways. They’ll miss him coming out the door with the Big Nine, his skills with a needle and thread, sitting on the stoop of the Backstreet Cultural Museum on Carnival day masked skeleton with a big, bloody-looking “bone” by his side and for the wisdom he shared at the House of Dance and Feathers. Perhaps most of all, we will miss his wonderful smile.

This article originally published in the March 30, 2020 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.