Mardi Gras Indians

Before beginning work with students, be sure to review the Introduction and the links to Music Rising Courses included in the Links & Documents section of this Teaching Strategy.

In this Teaching Strategy, students will learn how Mardi Gras Indians make the colorful suits that they wear each year. Students will identify materials and colors that are used in making Mardi Gras Indian Suits and design their own Mardi Gras Indian suits using construction paper and other materials.

In addition to resources found in this Teaching Strategy, materials needed are:

• Crayons and markers for each child to use
• Beans, Feathers, Beads, Shells, Glue, or old magazines for collage work
• Large sheets of construction paper (one per child)

Procedure:

1. Describe the Mardi Gras Indians and discuss how they make carnival suits each year.
2. Show examples of Mardi Gras Indian traditions from the Photos and Videos sections of this Teaching Strategy. Ask students to identify the materials that are used to make Mardi Gras Indian suits.
3. Show students examples of similar materials in class (beads, cowrie shells, feathers, sequins, rhinestones, etc.). Allow students to touch the materials and to imagine how each would be attached to a Mardi Gras Indian suit.
4. Have each student draw a picture of a design for their own Mardi Gras Indian suit and then decorate that suit using the materials available in class.
5. When students have finished with their designs, show each one to the class and guide a discussion:
   • What do you notice about this suit?
   • How long do you think it would take to sew a full-sized version, by hand? Who would help you sew it?
   • How would you stand if you were wearing this suit? How would you walk?

Before beginning work with students, be sure to review the Introduction and the links to Music Rising Courses included in the Links & Documents section of this Teaching Strategy.

In this Teaching Strategy, students will learn how Mardi Gras Indians use rhyming words in the songs that accompany Mardi Gras Indian performance traditions. Students will learn about rhyming words and identify rhyming words in Mardi Gras Indian songs.

In addition to resources found in this Teaching Strategy, materials needed are:

• Index cards

Procedure:

1. Discuss the Mardi Gras Indians with students and point out how they compose songs to describe their traditions.
2. Explain the roles of Big Chief, Flagboy, and Spyboy in Mardi Gras Indian traditions. Also define new terms such as “squaw,” and Créole language words like “Handa Wanda” and “Jock a Mo Fino Hoo Na Ney.”
3. Show examples of Mardi Gras Indian songs from the Videos section of this Teaching Strategy:
   • Indian Red
   • Big Chief
   • Handa Wanda

Before beginning work with students, be sure to review the Introduction and the links to Music Rising Courses included in the Links & Documents section of this Teaching Strategy.

In this Teaching Strategy, students will learn how Mardi Gras Indians use their creative expression in making Indian suits as a way to compete for the prettiest in their processions through the city. Students will view photo and video examples of Mardi Gras Indian suits and write an explanatory text on who they think is the “prettiest,” or who has the best Mardi Gras Indian suit.

Procedure:

1. Discuss the Mardi Gras Indians with students, and point out how they use the term “pretty” in their competition for who looks the best.
2. Show photos of Mardi Gras Indians linked in the Photos section of this Teaching Strategy, and ask students to explain what they like about the design of each suit.
3. Show “Mardi Gras Indians (Pretty Pretty) St. Joseph Day 2013” linked in the Videos section of this Teaching Strategy, and ask students:
   • How do Mardi Gras Indians show that they are the prettiest?
   • How do members of the community show that they like the different suits that Mardi Gras Indians make?
4. Ask students to locate the word “pretty” in the dictionary and discuss what they think the Mardi Gras Indians mean by being pretty.
5. Ask students to write an explanatory essay about which Mardi Gras Indian suit they think is the “prettiest” from the photos selected for discussion. Tell students that they should be sure to use descriptive details to explain why they think their choice is the prettiest.
6. Give students examples of how to use the following elements in their essays:
   • Linking words (also, another, and more)
   • Concluding statements

Before beginning work with students, be sure to review the Introduction and the links to Music Rising Courses included in the Links & Documents section of this Teaching Strategy.

In this Teaching Strategy, students will learn the different roles of Mardi Gras Indians, including the Big Chief, Big Queen, Spy Boy and Flag Boy. Students will view photo and video examples of the different ranks of Mardi Gras Indians and answer comprehension questions based on what they have read and observed.

Procedure:

1. Discuss the Mardi Gras Indians with students and point out that each Mardi Gras Indian group has different ranks, including: Big Chief, Big Queen, Spy Boy and Flag Boy
2. Ask students to read the article, “Mardi Gras Indians, Ranks: Spy Boy, Flag Boy and Big Chiefs,” found in the Links & Documents section of this Teaching Strategy. Ask students to answer the following reading comprehension questions:
   • What are the roles and responsibilities of the Big Chief, the Spy Boy and the Flag Boy?
   • How are the Big Chief, Spy Boy and Flag Boy like a family?
   • What do the “second liners” or other members of the community do when they see Mardi Gras Indians? How do Mardi Gras Indians bring the community together?
3. Show “Queen B-A Portrait of Littdell Banister, Tribal Queen of the Creole Wild West Mardi Gras Indian Gang (2010),” linked in the Videos section of this Teaching Strategy. Ask students to answer the following comprehension questions:
   • What is the reason Big Queen Littdell Banister began masking with the Mardi Gras Indians?
   • How was her family involved in her decision to mask?
   • According to Big Queen Littdell Banister, why is the Mardi Gras Indian tradition important to the history and heritage of the African-American community? What historical event is celebrated by Mardi Gras Indian traditions?
   • How is the Big Queen of a Mardi Gras Indian masking group like a mother in a family?

Before beginning work with students, be sure to review the Introduction and the links to Music Rising Courses included in the Links & Documents section of this Teaching Strategy.

In this Teaching Strategy, students will learn about the Northside Skull and Bone Gang, a New Orleans carnival society that masks alongside Mardi Gras Indians. Students will explore the different community messages that the Northside Skull and Bone Gang express during their morning procession to “wake up the Mardi Gras.”. Students will learn how the Northside Skull and Bone Gang bring their community together with their masking practices.

Procedure:

1. Discuss the Northside Skull and Bone Gang with students, describing the role they play in “waking up the Mardi Gras” on Mardi Gras morning, and their association with Mardi Gras Indian groups.
2. Ask students to read the following articles, linked through the Links & Documents section of this Teaching Strategy.
   • “Maskers Carry on Carnival Tradition in Treme”
   • “Skull and Bone Gangs”
3. Show students the images of Northside Skull and Bone Gang found in the Photos section of this Teaching Strategy, and “The Northside Skull and Bone Mardi Gras Indian Gang,” found in the Videos section of this Teaching Strategy.
4. After reading and viewing North Side Skull and Bone Gang resources, have the students answer the following comprehension questions:
   • How long have Skull and Bone Gangs been masking in New Orleans? What does it mean to “wake up the Mardi Gras”?
   • What is the Backstreet Cultural Museum? What kinds of exhibits can you see at the Backstreet Cultural Museum? How does it serve as a community center on Mardi Gras Day?
   • What do members of the Northside Skull and Bone Gang do to help bring the community together on Mardi Gras? In your opinion, why is it important that communities come together?

Before beginning work with students, be sure to review the Introduction and the links to Music Rising Courses included in the Links & Documents section of this Teaching Strategy.

In this Teaching Strategy, students will learn how Mardi Gras Indians are supported by their families and communities, and how this enables them to keep their masking traditions alive. Students will also learn to gather information about Mardi Gras Indians from primary and secondary sources

Procedure:

1. Discuss the differences between primary and secondary sources. Ask students why they think primary sources are important for gathering information.Introduce students to the Mardi Gras Indians, and describe the ways in which Mardi Gras Indian maskers get assistance from their families and the surrounding community to make their Indian suits.
2. Give students guidelines for how to take notes as they read articles or watch videos. Tell students that they will need to identify key information to help answer the question, “How do Mardi Gras Indians get assistance from their families and surrounding community?”
3. For each of the following resources found in the Links & Documents or Videos sections of this Teaching Strategy, ask students:
   • Whether this is a primary or secondary resource
   • To annotate the article or take notes on the video, highlighting key information that will reveal how families and communities take part in making Mardi Gras Indian suits.

   Resources:

   • “Mardi Gras Indians’ Suits Stitched With Help of Invisible Hands” (Links & Documents)
   • “Mardi Gras Indians” entry in KnowLA Encyclopedia of Louisiana, (Links & Documents)
   • “Portrait of a Chief” (Joshua Bee Alafia) (Videos)
4. After reading and viewing Mardi Gras Indian resources, have the students answer the following comprehension questions:
   • What is the difference between a primary and secondary source?
   • What type of information did you collect from the readings on how Mardi Gras Indians are supported by their families and community? In your opinion, why are these types of connections with family and community important?
   • What types of information can you collect from primary sources that you may not get from a secondary source? Why are primary sources important for research?

Before beginning work with students, be sure to review the Introduction and the links to Music Rising Courses included in the Links & Documents section of this Teaching Strategy.

In this Teaching Strategy, students will conduct a short (5-paragraph) research project on how Mardi Gras Indians celebrate their history and heritage. Students will also learn to gather information from multiple print and digital sources.

Procedure:
1. Review the basic elements of a research project with students and tell them that they will be conducting a short (5-paragraph) research project that will answer the following prompt: How do Mardi Gras Indians Celebrate Their History and Heritage?

2. Introduce students to the Mardi Gras Indian traditions and help them to brainstorm questions that they need to investigate in order to answer the research prompt.

3. Before reading, give students guidelines for how to take notes as they read so that they can identify key information that will help them answer the research prompt.

4. For each of the following resources found in the Links & Documents or Videos sections of this Teaching Strategy, guide students in their note taking and have them share their notes with the class.

Resources:

• Article: “My Knee Will Bend No More/Mardi Gras Indians and Tootie Montana” (Links & Documents)

• Article: “Mardi Gras Indians: Culture and Community Empowerment” (Links & Documents)

• Video: “Portrait of a Chief” – Joshua Bee Alafia. (Videos)

5. Ask students to search the Music Rising website for one additional source to use in their research. Help students brainstorm appropriate search terms.

6. Review the outlining process for their research essays. When students are in the drafting stage, review paraphrasing and proper citation format.

Before beginning work with students, be sure to review the Introduction and the links to Music Rising Courses included in the Links & Documents section of this Teaching Strategy.

In this Teaching Strategy, students will write an informative/explanatory essay on the ways in which three leaders in the Mardi Gras Indian community have challenged social injustice. Students will explore the lives and activist work of Tootie Montana, Cherice Harrison Nelson and Jerome Smith. Students will learn to gather information from multiple print and digital sources.

Procedure:

1. Review the basic elements of an informative/explanatory essay with students and tell them that they will writing an informative/explanatory essay that will answer the following prompt:

• How have Mardi Gras Indians challenged the social injustices that they have faced in New Orleans?

2. Discuss the definition of social justice and social injustice. Ask students to give examples of social injustice as a warm up to prepare them for writing their informative/explanatory essay.

3. Give background on the Mardi Gras Indians and discuss the social injustices that Mardi Gras Indians have faced. (Note: for Jerome Smith, point out to students that he sewed for Tootie Montana and the Yellow Pocahontas Mardi Gras Indians as a youth, and was inspired by Mardi Gras Indian traditions to become involved in the Civil Rights Movement) [see Rogers, Kim Lacy. Righteous Lives: Narratives of the New Orleans Civil Rights. New York: New York University Press, 1993. pgs 110-112].

Before beginning work with students, be sure to review the Introduction and the links to Music Rising Courses included in the Links & Documents section of this Teaching Strategy.

In this Teaching Strategy, students will learn the difference between primary and secondary sources. Students will explore the way that Mardi Gras Indians have used their masking traditions to overcome adversity, including the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.

Procedure:

1. Discuss the differences between primary and secondary sources. Ask students why they think primary sources are important for conducting research.

2. Give background on the Mardi Gras Indians and Hurricane Katrina.

3. Have students read the articles listed in the materials section of this lesson plan. Before reading, give students guidelines for how to take notes as they read, in order to identify key information that will help them answer the research prompt.

4. Discuss the following questions to prepare students for their analysis of primary and secondary sources:

• How were Mardi Gras Indians affected by Hurricane Katrina? How did they use their masking traditions to help them cope with the devastation and loss of Hurricane Katrina?

• How did Big Chief FiYiYi use his platform as a Mardi Gras Indian to convince residents of New Orleans to return to the city after the storm?

• Why do you think it was important for Mardi Gras Indians to continue their traditions after Hurricane Katrina?