Launch of Operation Saving Our Sons

Mayor Landrieu invites all leaders and members of the Mardi Gras Indian Nation to participate in the September 17 crime summit launching the "Saving Our Sons" (S. O. S.) Program in the City of New Orleans.

The summit is free and open to the public.

It will take place 10am-Noon on Saturday, September 17, 2011 at the University of New Orleans Lakefront Arena, with resource sharing and networking starting at 9 am.

Link to details and information


Please help spread the word.

By US Congressional Proclamation, Sunday is Mardi Gras Indian Hall of Fame Day

Wild Magnolias Big Queen Laurita Barras Dollis and Guardians of the Flame Big Queen Cherice Harrison Nelson display the Congressional Proclamation of Sunday, August 7, 2011 as Mardi Gras Indian Day in the United States of America. The proclamation was realized thanks to Senator Mary Landrieu, Barbara Lacen-Keller, and Anastasia Shaw.

Collin "Coach" Lewis has become an ancestor

Drummer Collin “Coach” Lewis became an ancestor on the evening of Friday, August 5. He supported Big Chief Victor “Fi-yi-yi” Harris of the Spirit of Fi-Yi-Yi and Mandingo Warriors. A Mardi Gras Indian drum tribute in Lewis's honor will be held at the Backstreet Museum at 5 pm, Saturday, August 6, 2011. The Backsteet Museum is located at 1116 Saint Claude Avenue in New Orleans.

The Mardi Gras Indian Hall of Fame will acknowledge and pay tribute to Mr. Lewis during the Mardi Gras Indian Hall of Fame Crystal Feather Awards at Ashe Cultural Arts Center from 4-5:30 pm on Sunday, August 7, 2011. Ashe Cultural Arts Center is located at 1712 Oretha C Haley Boulevard in New Orleans.

If you have any questions, call Wesley at 504-250-5244.

Spotlight on "Bury the Hatchet," a film by Aaron Walker

Bury the Hatchet trailer from cine-marais on Vimeo.


Aaron Walker's widely-acclaimed documentary Bury the Hatchet features the work and commentary of Golden Eagles Big Chief Monk Boudreaux, Flaming Arrows Big Chief Alfred Doucette, and Fi Yi Yi Big Chief Victor Harris.

Bury the Hatchet played in New Orleans this year at the Chalmette Theater through both weekends of Jazzfest. Your next opportunity to see it in New Orleans is in October at the New Orleans Film Festival.

Thanks to Aaron and his team for their contributions to documentation and understanding of Mardi Gras Indian culture.

HALL OF FAME WEEKEND SCREENING and DISCUSSION of MARDI GRAS INDIAN FILM (6-8 pm Friday August 5 at McDonogh 42)

Queen B: A portrait of Littdell Banister, Tribal Queen of the Creole Wild West Mardi Gras Indian Gang (2010) from Sophielab as screened at the 2010 Mardi Gras Indian Hall of Fame Ceremony on Vimeo.

The Thirteenth Annual Mardi Gras Indian Hall of Fame Weekend presents

PREMIERE OF 2010-2011 QUEENS RULE! PROJECT PORTRAITS and DISCUSSION OF MARDI GRAS INDIANS ON SCREEN

featuring the premieres of Queens Rule! project profiles of Mardi Gras Indian Hall of Fame honorees Mercy Stevenson, Patrina Peters, and Laurita B. Dollis.

Elder Queen Mercy Stevenson is former Queen of the Wild Tchoupitoulas and the White Cloud Hunters. Laurita Barras Dollis is Big Queen of the Wild Magnolias. Partina Peters is Wild Queen of the Red Hawk Hunters. 

Please join us at the 2011 Mardi Gras Indian Film Fest on Friday, August 5, 2011 at 6:00 pm until 8:00 pm hosted by McDonogh 42 Charter Elementary School, 1651 N. Tonti, New Orleans, LA. An event of the Mardi Gras Indian Hall of Fame Weekend, the screening and discussion is free and open to the public.

The Queens Rule! documentary project of the Mardi Gras Indian Hall of Fame is supported in part by funding from the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation, Kerry Clayton and Paige Royer, with production supervised by Betsy Weiss via the "Feminist Documentation and New Media" class in the Tulane Department of Communication and Center for Public Service, and by Crystal Kile via Sophielab at Newcomb College Institute (2006-2010) and now for the Mardi Gras Indian Hall of Fame. 

There will be a Q & A following with Guardians of the Flame Big Chief Brian Nelson, Director of the award-winning 2011 short Keeper of the Flame, and Greg Anderson, screenwriter of award-winning Stomp the Yard, joining Betsy Weiss and Crystal Kile.

For more information please phone 504-214-6630 or 504-231-5780.

Big Chief Alfred Doucette teaching in the Positive Vibrations Foundation Salon Series

Big Chief Alfred Doucette Salon // "Strange Fruit" Indian Suit and Katrina Story from Positive Vibrations Foundation on Vimeo.


Big Chief Alfred Doucette Salon // Cost of Indian Suits from Positive Vibrations Foundation on Vimeo.


Big Chief Alfred Doucette // History of Violence Among Indians from Positive Vibrations Foundation on Vimeo.


For the past two summers, Flaming Arrows Big Chief Alfred Doucette has served as part of the faculty of the Positive Vibrations Foundation fellowship program that brings young musicians from across the world to spend the summer studying music and culture in New Orleans.

In collaboration with the Canary Collective, the Positive Vibrations Foundation records and shares video of its "Salon Series" conversations and musical encounters with New Orleans musicians and culture bearers, including Guardians of the Flame percussionist Luther Gray, and Congo Nation Big Chief Donald Harrison, Jr.

Year in Review: Wild Magnolias Big Chief Bo Dollis, Senior named 2011 National Heritage Fellow

Wild Magnolias Big Chief Bo Dollis, Senior on Mardi Gras Day 2009 (Photo by Derek Bridges)

In July, the National Endowment of the Arts recognized the life work of Wild Magnolias Big Chief Bo Dollis, Senior by naming him as a National Heritage Fellow for 2011.

In 2009, Offbeat Magazine honored the Big Chief with its Best of the Beat Award for Lifetime Achievement in Music. Learn more about Wild Magnolias Big Chief Bo Dollis, Senior and the influence of his art and leadership via this series of video interviews produced on that occasion by the Loyola University Center for Music and Arts Entrepreneurship.



Press play to watch 2009 Offbeat Magazine "Best of the Beat Lifetime Achievement Award video