Mardi Gras costumes are "generically" wrong

Home-grown and spirit-raised

An exuberant New Orleans ritual commemorates the friendship of escaped slaves and Native AmericansTHE beadwork on Donald Harrison’s final Mardi Gras suit depicts a naked Native American woman, her body dark red, holding a baby in each hand. He wore the suit to perform at Jazz Fest, an annual music festival in New Orleans, in 1998; he died six months later. One of the woman’s hands reaches upwards, the other hangs down. Behind her is a stylised pastoral landscape: sky, mountains, prairie and a river. Above her looms a snarling white face in three-quarter view, with red eyes, yellow bared teeth, pointed ears and a villainous moustache. Glittering stones representing tears fall down the woman’s body: she must choose which of her babies to save.

Harrison called it his “Trail of Tears” suit, referring to the forced removal of tens of thousands of Native Americans from the south-eastern United States after the Indian Removal Act of 1830. Other Mardi Gras Indians pride themselves merely on being “pretty”—on having the most attractive, striking, eye-catching suit on Mardi Gras and St Joseph’s days—and that was important to Harrison too; he always looked correct when he “masked.” But he prized social commentary as well. He was a voracious reader, a passionate arguer, a labour leader among his fellow waiters, and he put himself into all his suits. As his daughter, Cherice Harrison-Nelson, says, “Suits tell stories.”And:The people who “mask Indian” tend to be working-class black New Orleanians. And as the names of the roles suggest, Mardi Gras Indian culture was traditionally an exclusively male preserve—“a warrior culture,” as Ms Harrison-Nelson calls it—though that is slowly changing. Ms Harrison-Nelson masks as the Big Queen of the Guardians of the Flame. While many groups start their parades from bars or taverns, last year her gang, which included several other women and a number of children, got permission to leave from St Augustine’s, a starkly beautiful Catholic church in Tremé built by free black people in the early 19th century.

The dress is broadly, even generically, Native American; the suits are often complemented by huge feathered headdresses. The apparel derives not from the Choctaw, the Tunica, the Natchez or any of the other Native nations living around New Orleans, but from Natives of the Great Plains (noted for their broad headdresses). One theory is that New Orleanians became familiar with this look in the mid-to-late 19th century, thanks to travelling troupes such as Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. They may also have encountered it when, after the civil war, some freed slaves joined the army and met Plains Indians on the western frontier.Comment:  A naked, dark red Native woman to portray the Trail of Tears? Headdresses copied from myth-making Wild West shows? Wow...that pretty much says it all.

I guess "broadly, even generically" is a polite way of saying "falsely and stereotypically." Nothing about the Mardi Gras names, costumes, or customs represents genuine Indians. The celebrators may be celebrating genuine history, but they're doing so in false and stereotypical ways.

For more on Mardi Gras Indians, see Mardi Gras Costumes Get Copyright Protection and "Redskins" in Mardi Gras Costume.

Below:  A man in a "Chief Chicken" outfit brandishes a shield and a tomahawk. On his outfit is a red-skinned savage brandishing a shield and a tomahawk. Message: Indians are devilish killers.

In any other case, this would be ugly stereotyping. In this case, it's ugly stereotyping.

Mardi Gras costumes get copyright protection

Mardi Gras Indian Suits Now Copyright Protected

By Alex RawlsMardi Gras Indian costumes are now officially works of art. Fans of the New Orleans Indian tradition have long held this view, but the US Copyright Office recognized the suit of Creole Wild West’s Chief Howard Miller as sculpture/3D artwork effective April 13, 2010. So far, 10 Mardi Gras Indians have applied to copyright protect their suits, which would mean among other things that photographers would have to pay them to sell shots of their costumes in some circumstances.And:The cost of the suits and the history of economic hardships for Mardi Gras Indians is part of the impetus for seeking copyright protection. For years, Indians and members of social aid and pleasure clubs have feared that while they were financially struggling, photographers were shooting and selling their likenesses without giving them a cut. The concern that they were being exploited is longstanding, but Keaton hopes that this ruling will create a win-win situation.Comment:  For more on the subject, see "Redskins" in Mardi Gras Costume and Exploitation Upsets Mardi Gras Exploiters.



Similar costumes that may deserve copyright protection also:

"Redskins" in Mardi Gras costume

A Mardi Gras "Indian" costume nicely shows what the revelers really think of Indians.



On the bottom of the costume is a Plains chief with dark red skin. He's wearing what looks like a tuxedo or another kind of formal wear. Whatever he's wearing, he's a pure stereotype. The chief's headdress and red skin have nothing to do with Louisiana's Indians.

In the middle of the costume is a grotesque Indian caricature with bright red skin and a huge hooked nose. I can't tell what he's wearing...prison stripes? Whatever he's wearing, the stereotypes are even worse. Again, they have nothing to do with Louisiana's Indians.

So...honoring the local Indians with common Native stereotypes from around the country? "Thanks but no thanks," these Indians might respond. "We don't consider stupid stereotypes a la Chief Wahoo and Chief Illiniwek an honor."

For more on the subject, see Mardi Gras Indians in Treme and Exploitation Upsets Mardi Gras Exploiters.

Indians at the bottom in New Orleans

Some people have argued that because Indians and blacks have a shared history at the bottom of New Orleans society, it's okay for them to appropriate each other's culture. Neither group was in a position to lord it over the other, so this appropriation is a respectful kind of homage.

For some reason this appropriation goes only one way: blacks imitate Indians but Indians don't imitate blacks. I suspect that's because blacks and Indians weren't truly equal in this environment. Blacks had a superior social position, so their "homage" was no homage. It was more of the usual stereotyping: "As Indians we can pretend to be wild and free, even though we're staid members of civilized society."

A posting on the Choctaw shows how Indians were marginalized even in the multicultural gumbo of Louisiana. I believe the first (indented) comes from Joey Dillard, a "recognized authority on black English." "Red Bones" is a pejorative term for Indians who migrated from the Carolinas and Georgia.Both Indians and Red Bones long have been marginal to the plantation areas of Louisiana. The Indian settlements were in the swamps, pine woods, and marshes, and their closest non-Indian neighbors most often were white yeoman farmers, Acadians, and Scotch-Irish, who owned no slaves. If Indians lived near a plantation, the owner became their patron, offering them credit and protection from exploitation, at least by others. In exchange, they were required to hunt, entertain guests with ball games and dances, make baskets, tan hides, and perform other services that might, on occasion, include the recovery of runaway slaves."Half savages and half civilized"

The posting continues:Dominique Rouquette, a friend of the Louisiana Choctaw, has left a lively description of the situations in 1850.

The Choctaw obstinately refuse to abandon the different parishes of Louisiana, where they are grouped in small family tribes, and live in rough huts in the vicinity of plantations, and hunt for the planters, who trade for the games they kill all they need: powder, lead, corn, woolen covers, etc. Their huts are generally [surrounded] by a fence. In this enclosure their families plant corn, pumpkins and potatoes, and raise chickens.
Rosa Jackson Pierite, a Choctaw-Biloxi from Indian Creek, has described how, in the 1920s, her mother and sisters put their baskets in a sheet, bundled it over a pole, and walked twelve miles from their homes near Indian Creek to Alexandria: "We spread them on street corners and sold them to passers-by." Rouquette has described a similar scene from nineteenth-century New Orleans.

Nothing is more interesting to the tourists than to see them [the Choctaw] wandering along the streets of La Reine du Sud (the Queen of the South), La Cite du Croissant (Crescent City) with their pauvres pacotilles (small, cheap wares), in their picturesque costumes, half savages and half civilized, followed by a number of children of all ages, half naked, and carrying on their backs a papoose snugly wrapped in the blanket, with which they envelope themselves, like a squirrel in moss.

Sometimes they squat in a circle, at the big market place, on the banks of the old river, patiently waiting with downcast eyes, for the chalandes [customers] who buy what they offer, more for the sake of charity than from necessity.
Artists such as basket makers were considered to be peddling, a low-status occupation in the eyes of non-Indians. Hunters were considered unreliable, almost objects of ridicule. Social contacts with non-Indians were largely restricted to practically momentary encounters, so the ball games, dances, and the sacred rituals of religion became matters of curiosity and sources of entertainment for white planters' families and friends.

(A Choctaw Belle, 1850, painted by P. Romer.)

Sounds to me like Indians were considered the dregs of society, equivalent to black slaves. They were considered half-savage, with large broods of children, exotic and colorful. They lives in rough huts in the woods and swamps beyond the plantations and didn't interact much with others except to sell their goods.

"Free people of color"

In contrast, here's how the free blacks and mixed-race Creoles lived:

Louisiana Creole peopleAs a group, the mixed-race Créoles rapidly began to acquire education, skills (many in New Orleans worked as craftsmen and artisans), businesses and property. They were overwhelmingly Catholic, spoke Colonial French (although some also spoke Louisiana Creole French), and kept up many French social customs, modified by other parts of their ancestry and Louisiana culture. With enough numbers, the free people of color also married among themselves to maintain their class and social culture. The French-speaking mixed-race or mulatto population came to be called Black Créoles and Créoles of color. "New Orleans persons of color were far wealthier, more secure, and more established than blacks elsewhere in Louisiana."And:Under the French and Spanish, Louisiana was a three-tiered society, similar to that of Brazil, Cuba, Haiti, St.Lucia, Mexico, and other Latin colonies. This three-tiered society allowed for the emergence of a wealthy and educated group of mixed-race Créoles. Their identity as free people of color, or Gens de couleur libres or personnes de couleur libre was one they had worked diligently towards and guarded with an iron fist. By law they enjoyed most of the same rights and privileges as whites. They could and often did challenge the law in court of law and won cases against whites (Hirsch; Brasseaux; Mills; Kein etc.). There were some free blacks, but in Louisiana most free people of color were of mixed race, descended initially from the children of planters and wealthier merchants. They acquired education, property and power within the colony, and later, state.

(Creole woman of color with maid, from a watercolor series by Édouard Marquis, New Orleans, 1867.)

So blacks and Indians apparently weren't equivalent in New Orleans. Blacks enjoyed more status and power, especially if they had mixed blood.

Given this, I can imagine the origin of the Mardi Gras Indians. Just like white college students, Boy Scouts, and Y-Indian Guides, blacks and Creoles started "playing Indian" to assert their identity. "We're a clan, we're tribal, we're connected to this place and its inhabitants. We're stronger, more unified, more authentic than you."

I conclude the Mardi Gras Indians are a form of exploitation, just as I thought. They're pretending to be Indians for the same reason everyone pretends to be Indians: "It feels good to be a wild savage."

For more on the Mardi Gras Indians, see Mardi Gras Indians in Treme and Mardi Gras Indian Stereotypes. For more on the subject in general, see Indian Wannabes and The Political Uses of Stereotyping.

Mardi Gras Indians in Treme

A new HBO series about New Orleans features the Mardi Gras Indians:

In 'Treme', Race and Class Loom Large

By Latoya PetersonEach character appears to serve a different purpose outside of the story, with many vocalizing contemporary issues in New Orleans. For example, Albert Lambreaux is fascinating for a variety of reasons, one being his representation of different life stages. While he is currently a respected member of the community and a pillar of tradition, the events in the second episode hint at a less virtuous path to his current position. Lambreaux is also the neighborhood's resident "chief"--a title conferred due to his involvement with the Mardi Gras Indians. As Lambreaux struggles to pull together the members of his "tribe" before Mardi Gras and Super Sunday (St. Joseph's day), outsiders are treated to an interesting historical footnote: the exact origins of the Mardi Gras Indians tradition are not known, but most inception stories trace the practice to the intermingling of black and Indigenous peoples during the slavery era and the growth of the tradition as an homage to shared culture and solidarity.

Adrienne Keene, of the Native Appropriations blog, discusses the aspects of both appropriation and respect that inform the longstanding tradition:

Inherent in the concept of cultural appropriation is the notion of power. The group in power takes cultural aspects of a subordinate community out of context and uses them how they see fit. These Mardi Gras Indians are African American, and arguably at the lowest economic strata of society (the NYTimes article talks about copyrighting as a means to recoup money for these performers). They are by no means in a position of power over Native communities in Louisiana or elsewhere. The Mardi Gras Indian culture does not appear to come out of a desire to "play Indian," and in many ways, it has moved outside of the realm of cultural appropriation into a distinct culture and community of it's own. But above all, it seems the history comes not out of a relationship of power, but out of a shared position of marginality and discrimination.
Considering that many people are not aware that Mardi Gras celebrations were ever segregated, the display of a notably black tradition and references to NOLA's indigenous peoples on HBO is a major coup.Comment: I say the Mardi Gras krewes are playing Indian. Their reasons may be a little deeper than most, but they're still adopting stereotypical names and costumes that have nothing to do with their Southern Indian heritage.

These people are supposedly honoring the tribes who took in their ancestors--e.g., the Choctaw. If that's so, why not name and dress themselves like Choctaws? What do the showgirl outfits and the goofy names like Yellow Pocahontas have to do with the actual Indians who saved them?

Even mascot lovers usually get that much right. If they're "honoring" Plains chiefs, they dress like Plains chiefs. They don't dress like Indians from New York, Florida, or California.

Indians and Blacks equal?

Peterson and Keene float similar theories based on blacks and Indians being together at the bottom of New Orleans society. Like sisters, blacks and Indians could share clothes because they shared a history. Neither group had any power, so the dress-up game wasn't a power trip.

Since no one knows the krewes' history for sure, let me float my own theory.

In New Orleans's mixed society, blacks weren't just slaves and beggars. They were seeded throughout the lower, middle, and even some of the upper classes. In contrast, Indians truly lived on the margins of New Orleans society. They were equal to the poorest blacks, yes, but many blacks weren't poor.

So blacks dressing as Indians in the Mardi Gras sent the same message it sends in every other context. The same message that whites send when they dress up as Wampanoag Indians in Thanksgiving pageants. Namely:
Even though you helped us, we ended up ahead of you. We have more power and status and we're glad of it. Because we can dress up as you, we will dress up as you. Like any Westerners who dress up in tribal costumes or fashions, our message is: "We won. We're better than you. We can pretend to be savages because we're civilized."
Where are the real Indians?

If you don't think this is going on, show me some genuine American Indians dressed in stereotypical African American costumes. Show me some blacks dressed as outlandish "blacks" or Indians dressed as outlandish "Indians." Show me some real Indians, period.

If these two groups are expressing their mutual marginalized history, where are the real Indians and the phony blacks? Why does the mimicry go in only one direction? Where exactly is the sharing in this "shared" history?

Then there are the Mayokis and Chasco "Indian" krewes in Florida--white people who do the same thing as the black people of New Orleans. Not to mention all the white Halloween parties and YMCA-style programs across the nation. These whites don't have the same shared history with Indians, so what's their excuse for playing dress-up?

You're telling me blacks and whites both play-act as Indians, but it's just a coincidence? One is a genuine expression of history and the other is a complete mockery? I don't think so.

I won't even go into how the "Indian" krewes compete for fame and fortune. If they've ever shared a jot of Louisiana Indian lore, I must've missed it. The Mardi Gras is all about getting oneself recognized, not recognizing others.

Appropriation isn't an honor

Here are some valid choices for the Mardi Gras Indians:

1) If you're honoring real Indians, dress like real Indians. For instance, if you're honoring all Indians, dress like a variety of real-world Indians. Don't dress only in stereotypical Plains clothes.

Similarly, if you're honoring Louisiana Indians, don't dress like Las Vegas showgirls. Dress like Louisiana Indians. Duh.

2) If you're dressing like fake Indians, don't claim you're honoring real Indians. This applies to most mascot lovers, Mardi Gras krewes, and other Indian wannabes.

We don't honor George Washington by dressing up as King George III. Or Abraham Lincoln by dressing up as John Wilkes Booth. Dressing up as the wrong Indians is just as stupid as dressing up as the wrong Europeans.

3) If you can't dress like the Indians you're supposedly honoring, don't bother trying. You're just going to trivialize or bastardize the people you claim to admire.

Try honoring Louisiana's Indians with awards or artwork, not phony names and costumes. Try giving to them, not taking from them. (Mis)appropriating someone's culture and history isn't an honor.

For more on the subject, see Exploitation Upsets Mardi Gras Exploiters and Debating the Hokey Mayokis.

Below: A scene from Treme.

Exploitation upsets Mardi Gras exploiters

New Orleans Journal

Want to Use My Suit? Then Throw Me Something

By Campbell RobertsonMr. Yancy, 44, is a nursing assistant by profession. His calling, however, is as one of the Mardi Gras Indians—a member of the Yellow Pocahontas tribe, to be exact—the largely working-class black New Orleanians who create and wear ornate, enormous feathered costumes and come out three times a year to show them off.

He is also one of a number of Indians who have become fed up with seeing their photographs on calendars, posters and expensive prints, without getting anything in return.

Knowing that there are few legal protections for a person who is photographed in public—particularly one who stops and poses every few feet—some Mardi Gras Indians have begun filing for copyright protection for their suits, which account for thousands of dollars in glass beads, rhinestones, feathers and velvet, and hundreds of hours of late-night sewing.And:Mardi Gras Indians have been around for more than a century—more than two, some say—and are generally thought to have originated as a way to pay homage to the American Indians who harbored runaway slaves and started families with them.Comment:  Yeah, they're "paying homage" to Indians by turning a revered chief's headdress into a Vegas showgirl's outfit. That's about like sports fans "paying homage" to Indians by donning warpaint and doing the tomahawk chop.

The "honoring people by imitating them badly" rationale doesn't work in any other context, so why should it work here? Answer: It doesn't.

Below:  "Last Friday, at a St. Joseph's Night parade in New Orleans, Santana Montana of the Monogram Hunters tribe went to greet his father, David Montana of the Yellow Pocahontas tribe." (Chris Bickford for The New York Times)



Rob Capriccioso offers some background on these faux "Indians":

Mardi Gras Indians get treated like real Indians; don’t like itTalk about irony. Some folks who dress up for Mardi Gras in pseudo-American Indian attire say they want legal protection against people they say have misappropriated their images without permission.

The fake Indians use names like the “Monogram Hunters tribe” and the “Yellow Pocahontas tribe.” They wear feathers on their heads, call themselves chiefs, and have a grand tribal council.

As Indianz.com writes, “Many costumes contain elements of traditional Indian regalia that could be found at powwows across the country.

“But the Mardi Gras ‘Indians’ say they are the ones being exploited. Their likenesses, and costumes, are being used in photographs without their consent and they usually don’t have any recourse.”As noted in Mardi Gras:  "To Be an Indian Is a Very Special Calling," these "Indians" have stereotypical names and costumes. They're just another group of wannabes who think dressing up makes them like real Indians. They're no different from mascot lovers, New Age worshipers, European hobbyists, and others who also think dressing up makes them like real Indians.

Capriccioso hits the point home:One must wonder: did the “big chief” get permission from real American Indian tribes to use their regalia, traditions, and cultures to celebrate the drunken New Orleans festival?Exactly. As Capriccioso indicated, the irony of this situation is rich.

The Mardi Gras stereotypers are upset because people are (mis)appropriating their costumes. Yet they're doing the same thing: (mis)appropriating Indian lore. How would they respond if a real Indian said the same thing to them that they're saying to the photographers? "Oh, well...that's different. Our exploitation is sincere and theirs isn't. We don't just admire real Indians, we really admire them."

Their usual rationale is that Indians helped their ancestors, so their homage is justified. But this isn't much different from the excuses used by the Cleveland Indians or Washington Redskins. "An Indian player or coach helped our team, so that justifies our stereotypical mascot homage."

For more on the subject, see Mardi Gras Indian Stereotypes and Phony Indians "Honor" Real Indians.

Below:  Which "homages" are sincere and flattering and which aren't?

Debating the hokey Mayokis

In response to Phony "Mayokis" in Pensacola Fiesta, an anonymous reader tried to defend the faux Indians' stupid stereotyping. Here are his comments and my replies:Actually, the local native people were not only invited, they participated for many years in the Fiesta activities. During the DeLuna landing on Pensacola Beach, the Flying Eagle dancers would open the event with a snake dance using a live snake and dancers of all ages.The staged DeLuna landing isn't the parade involving the Mayokis. Indians can participate in one without participating in the other.Also, for many years local native families worked on preparing bells, beading, leg and arm bands and other accessories. They attended our functions, were present at the parades and other activities and were proud to associate with the Mayokis. Unfortunately one family patriarch, a Chief and Medicine Man, died a few years ago. The families went different directions and, with newer members coming into the group, relationships were lost.Local Native families used to work with the Mayokis--when people were less aware of the harm of stereotyping. Now they don't. In other words, the Mayokis have lost the Native support they used to have.

White woman stirred protests?The sad thing is that this sudden concern over the Mayokis raised its ugly head a few years ago, not from a Native American, but from a white female self proclaimed activist. This same person has also been associated with many other activist movements, including being associated with Palestinian liberation. She continued to stir the pot and eventually found a few local native people to join her.

Unfortunately, when engaging in talks with the media and some of these locals, the subject of "donations" constantly came up. This seemed to have more of an extortionist feel rather than concerns over who was offended.Whether your white activist is seeking donations is irrelevant to me. I'm not seeking donations, and I say the Mayokis are stereotypical. So does Creek hip-hop artist Shadowyze, aka Shawn Enfinger, a Pensacola resident and one-time Grammy nominee. Deal with it and don't try to change the subject.

You say "a few" local Natives now oppose the Mayokis. How many? And how many local Natives still support the Mayokis? From your comments, it sounds like their support has evaporated.

Local Natives also support the Washington Redskins and Cleveland Indians. Does that mean these team names and mascots aren't stereotypical? No, it means some Natives don't care about stereotypes despite their documented harm. If they want to ignore the problem, that's their prerogative, but I'll stick with the many Natives who do oppose harmful stereotypes.

Natives stay away from "Mayokis"Unfortunately, while many local native people have been contacted and expressed interest in being involved in Fiesta activities, the negative expressions of the few have seemed to keep them away. No one really wants the negative publicity. However, if local native people wish to become involved "again," then I am sure that this would be well received and an accurate representation could be made of Native Americans, in addition to the fictitious Mayoki tribe.As I said, real Natives competing for attention with fake Mayokis would be problematical. Why should they appear "in addition to" the Mayokis? Why don't the Mayokis change or abandon their stereotypical costumes? What exactly is their excuse for continuing to misrepresent and mock Indians?Almost every native race and culture in the world has been concurred, enslaved or expelled by another at some point or another throughout history by some of our ancestors. This includes Native American tribes who would do this same thing to each other. In fact native "warriors" existed way before any outside culture ever arrived. Given the current attitudes, I guess if the Europeans had not arrived, one Native tribe, such the Sioux, might have been protesting and proclaiming insults if a Mohawk wore a Sioux headdress.Yeah, or your ridiculously hypothetical situation might not have happened. But if it did, the Sioux would be within their rights to protest. Stereotypes are wrong even if Natives are the ones perpetuating them.

But really...are you seriously offering the asinine "everyone conquered everyone else" defense? On what moral planet do two wrongs make a right? And what does conquest have to do with stereotyping? Whether some Indians conquered others is irrelevant to the issue I'm tackling here.

Stereotyping is the issue

Stop dodging this issue and start addressing it. Yes or no: Are the Mayokis stereotyping Indians? Answer that and then we'll see if you have a leg to stand on.

Would the Mayokis dress up as half-naked Zulu warriors with grass skirts and bones in their noses? If not, then why are they dressing up as old-fashioned Plains Indians? Portraying Indians using outdated stereotypes is wrong and arguably racist.It is time that we all took the time to look for the good in our fellow man and let go of the hate and resentment that drives much of this world.I don't hate the Mayokis for perpetuating stupid stereotypes. I'm just pointing out their stupidity. If they don't like being labeled stupid, they can stop acting stupid.

Do you feel hate and resentment when you tell your children to stop doing something wrong? Well, neither do I. Correcting your mistakes is no more emotional to me than correcting the typos in your comments. It's like brushing lint off my collar, except it takes more time.

Anyway, no need to thank me for helping you with your sloppy writing and thinking. It's all part of the service this blog provides.

For more on Mardi Gras "Indians," see Mardi Gras Indian Stereotypes and Phony Indians "Honor" Real Indians. For more on the subject in general, see Tricking or Treating Indians and Indian Wannabes.

Below:  Phony Indians "whoop" it up.

Phony "Mayokis" in Pensacola fiesta

I came across this controversy in a recent article. The articles below are a few years old, but apparently the problem goes on.

Mayokis to make usual presence at Beach parade

By Franklin HayesOne of the most recognized and highly regarded Krewes to participate in the Pensacola Beach Mardi Gras Parade are the Mayoki Indians. The group boasts a membership of over 300 people, which includes area neurosurgeons, attorneys, contractors and educators. The Mayokis always inhabit their stucco brown, temple float adorned in the finest Native American inspired costumes. The Chief, a member who is elected by popular vote, and his wife the queen dove, are dressed in pure white robes with matching headdresses. The runner-up is dubbed Medicine Man and his wife becomes Witch Woman and both are very visible during the parade accompanying the Chief and his court.

The infamous krewe, that claims everything they do is all in the name of fun, actually came into being as an attempt to lighten things up many years ago. Gulf Breeze business owner Alan Davis and other prominent men from Pensacola created the Mayokis in 1961. Their main focus in the beginning was to compliment the Fiesta of Five Flags. The moniker “Mayoki” is claimed to be entirely fictitious. According to popular Mayoki lore, Davis and his group wanted to add a little more excitement to the banal Festival of Five Flags. They did so by taking a lead from the historical Boston Tea Party celebration, and dressed up as Indians to greet the De Luna court as they commenced their landing ceremony on Pensacola Beach. The event soon turned into tradition, and the Mayokis greet the court during the fiesta to this day. The Mayoki Ball takes place in June, on the night of De Luna’s landing and is used as a stage to present the Chief and his court. On the same day the Indians also hold their Mayoki pow wow, at which they elect their new board of directors.

Viewpoint:  We need a new image of Native Americans

By Lauren AnzaldoI recently became aware of a local organization that has built a more than 40-year tradition of lampooning Native Americans. The organization is the Mayoki Indian krewe, a participant in the annual Fiesta of Five Flags celebrations. The krewe may be best known for its wild antics during the Fiesta parade each summer in downtown Pensacola.

Upon witnessing the Mayokis' feather-and-face-painted, sequin-clad, booty-dancing performance, I was shocked at the flippant use of sacred things as props. Feathers, holy and special to Native people, were tossed about like candy. The regalia of the Plains Indians had become showy, skimpy costumes. One man wore a rhinestone pin shaped in the words "Bad Indian."

Whether or not the Mayoki krewe realizes it, their costumes and performance mock actual Native Americans. They've turned a culture into a burlesque show.

Furthermore, the Mayoki program misinforms. It teaches that Native Americans dressed and acted like that. Children seeing the Mayokis for the first time responded with, "Cool! Look at the Indians." It is very difficult to explain to a child (and some adults, for that matter) that the strangely dressed person handing out beads and feathers is not an Indian at all but someone pretending to be an Indian--and not doing a very good job of it. "The Mayokis promote miseducation to non-Indians with ignorant insensitivity to Native Americans," says Creek hip-hop artist Shadowyze, aka Shawn Enfinger, a Pensacola resident and one-time Grammy nominee. "They hop around mouth-patting (in some cases in bars) in replica native regalia symbolic of sacred spiritual connections, with no regard to the centuries-old social degradation they employ with heart-crushing impact on our people."

The Mayokis claim to honor Native peoples, who existed in this area thousands of years before Columbus and were all but annihilated after his arrival. But none of the Native people I've spoken with feel honored.

"I would be honored if these community leaders would take off their costumes and present themselves as friends of the descendants of the most recent Muscogee Creek people," said Mikko Bobby Johns Bearheart, chief of the Perdido Bay Tribe. "They mean well, I'm sure, but it is disturbing that a mythical representation is used to identify the first people that lived and died protecting their home and families."

Shadowyze slams Mayoki Indians"We're not just feathers and beads," explains Shadowyze, a.k.a. Shawn Enfinger. "If some of the members claim to have Native blood, they should want to put an end to the degrading and stereotypical image they're putting out there," he continues.

"They dance their way into popular tourists bars in the local area and drink beer and strong liquors in these outfits until they can only stagger out drunk and wasted," says Shadowyze in his e-mail plea. "This has got to stop ASAP...The outfits they wear are cheap cartoon-like insults and geographically mixed matched embarrassments."Comment:  As with the vast majority of fakes in Mardi Gras-style events, these "Indians" are stereotypical wannabes.

For more on a related event, see Chasco Fiesta Mocks Indians. For more on Mardi Gras "Indians," see Mardi Gras Indian Stereotypes and Phony Indians "Honor" Real Indians.

Mardi Gras Indian stereotypes

Mardi Gras Indians show plumage in Uptown paradeTaylor, an interior designer by trade, began sewing as a toddler, masking first in 1956 with his uncle's tribe, the Yellow Jackets. He's led the 6th Ward's White Cloud Hunters since 1984 and is known for detailed needlework, a keen eye for color and a lush voice. Like other Indians, he believes that a spirit of sorts overtakes him when he's singing or chanting with a drum beating the right beat. "You can tell a true Indian by looking at his eyes," Taylor said. "He gets that look, a spooky look."

For several hours Sunday afternoon, Uptown New Orleans was a freeway of stunning feathers. About 100 Indians started the parade at A.L. Davis Park at Washington Avenue and La Salle Street. Every few blocks, more feathers merged into the procession. As the parade turned onto Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, a tribe stood waiting at nearly every cross street.

First came Spirit of FiYiYi, led by master sewer Big Chief Victor Harris, green beaded lizards on his shoulders like epaulets and, on his shield, another beaded lizard about as long as a baseball bat. "FiYiYi, FiYiYi," sang his percussionists, beating drums and tambourines, as they gathered near the street, spreading out their wings for photos and waiting for the parade to arrive. The Apache Hunters came in near South Robertson Street, the Wild Magnolias at Clara Street and the Wild Tchoupitoulas just before Willow Street.Comment:  For more on the subject, see Mardi Gras:  "To be an Indian is a very special calling."

Phony Indians "honor" real Indians

Mardi Gras tribes ready to suit upMontana is big chief of the Yellow Pocahontas, one of around 60 groups calling themselves the Mardi Gras Indian tribes.

They are revelers of a different sort during the Feb. 5 Mardi Gras celebration, suiting up in colorful, extravagant costumes and swaggering through New Orleans as part of a tradition dating to the mid-1800s.

They aren't Native Americans, but mostly African-Americans who perform the ritual as a tribute to the Chickasaw, Choctaw and other American Indian tribes that once sheltered runaway slaves.Comment:  The Mardi Gras Indians "honor" real Indians by dressing up in outlandish costumes that make a mockery of real Indian regalia. And by using names such as Yellow Pocahontas that have nothing to do with the Chickasaw or Choctaw.

As far as I'm concerned, these people are stereotyping Indians just like faux-Native mascots stereotype Indians. For more on the subject, see Mardi Gras:  "To be an Indian is a very special calling."