Music & Material Culture Workshop

Big Chief Juan Pardo of the Golden Comanche Mardi Gras Indians leads a workshop with students on the intricate beading and sewing that is central to New Orleans musical tradition. He'll introduce both the art form and the larger history, and students will leave with their own beaded piece.

Held in conjunction with Luther Dickinson's "Music Inspired by the Seven Climates."

Mardi Gras Indian Tribes emerged as tightly knit communities of African-American performers and artisans who had been excluded from mainstream Carnival festivities. These Tribes founded their own secret societies and parades. Core to this cultural legacy are regalia, dance, and music, which keep alive African traditions while paying homage to the Native American tribes who once shielded formerly-enslaved peoples from recapture.

As influential as the Mardi Gras Indians have been to the aesthetics and flair of Mardi Gras, they are equally as influential in the development of New Orleans music. As the late New Orleans legend Dr. John put it, “New Orleans music is Afro-Caribbean, Afro-Cuban, and Mardi Gras Indian.”

Free to the public. All materials provided.

This presentation is funded, in part, by a grant from South Arts in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and the Mississippi Arts Commission. Additional support provided by the R&B Feder Foundation, Balch & Bingham, Chandeleur Island Brewing Company, Mitchell Distributing, Allen Beverages, Rain Residential, and Cathead Distillery.