The Mardi Gras Indians and Nweh Cultural Traditions

Stephen B. Wilcox, Ph. D., FIDSA
Sunday, April 15, 2007

Introduction

The subject of my article is the relationship between certain traditions in Nweh culture and a fascinating type of organization in New Orleans called the Mardi Gras Indians. For those who may be reading this out of the context of the whole volume, and may not be familiar with Nweh culture, l should explain that the Nweh people come from an area in Western Cameroon called Lebialem.

Although it would be overstating the case to claim that the Mardi Gras Indians evolved directly from the Nweh traditions that I will discuss, the case I want to make is that the Nweh traditions represent the continuing existence of the types of cultural phenomena in West Africa from which the Mardi Gras Indians evolved. I don’t believe that any particular Nweh institution necessarily represents a prototype for the Mardi Gras Indians, but, as I will show, virtually all of the basic characteristics of the Marti Gras Indians have analogues in Nweh culture.

Although I am a true expert neither on Nweh traditions nor on the Mardi Gras Indians, I seem to be one of the few people, if not the only person, who has had the great fortune (or dumb luck) of becoming reasonably knowledgeable about both. So let me begin by describing the Mardi Gras Indians of New Orleans in general terms, then I will discuss parallels between their traditions and various Nweh traditions. Since some of the readers of this article may not be familiar with Nweh traditions, I will explain them as I go, with apologies to those readers who are more familiar with them than I am.

The first thing to be said about the Mardi Gras Indians is that (to paraphrase Michael Smith, 1994) they have very little real connection to either Mardi Gras or to American Indians. Indeed, as Smith points out, the Indians themselves seldom, if ever, refer to themselves as “Mardi Gras Indians”. I will use that term for clarity here, although, the term is an “outsider’s” term that is seldom used by those with an intimate knowledge of the Indians. It is more common to see the Indians referred to as “tribes” or “gangs”.

At any rate, I believe that both connections - to Indians and to Mardi Gras - are simply marriages of convenience. Mardi Gras provided a logical time to wear costumes and masks (when everyone in New Orleans was doing so), and the American-Indian theme provided a focus for traditions (e.g., creating beaded and feathered costumes) that really go back to African, not American Indian, origins.

So, what are the Mardi Gras Indians? They are African American neighborhood organizations that parade on Mardi Gras and certain other days, such as St. Joseph’s Day, in colorful and elaborate “Indian” costumes. They come from traditionally black neighborhoods of New Orleans, and trace their roots back to the early-to-mid 18th Century, by which time there were references to free blacks and even slaves wearing Indian costumes at Mardi Gras (Clark, 1999). Today’s specific tribes (there are presently approximately 40) began to emerge about 150 years later, in the 1880s. Smith (1994) points out that various “Wild-West” shows came through New Orleans about that time (indeed, the famous Buffalo Bill Wild West Show wintered in New Orleans in 1884-85), which may have been the immediate stimulus for the emergence of the modern Mardi Gras Indians. The oldest of today’s tribes, the “Creole Wild West” is, in fact, said to have been founded in 1885, the very year that Buffalo Bill’s show was resident in New Orleans.

Most of the tribes have simple Indian names (e.g., Blackfoot Hunters, Golden Star Hunters, Seminole, Wild Apache), although some incorporate a place name as well (e.g., 7th Ward Hunters, Wild Tchoupitoulas, Carrollton Hunters). The key “title holders” of each tribe create elaborate costumes for the parade season, a new costume every year, and they have regular “practices”, in the fall, typically on Sunday nights. But they are much more than simply parade organizations; they are very complex and secretive societies that play an important role in the social fabric of New Orleans and its neighborhoods. In what follows, I will describe a number of characteristics of the Mardi Gras Indians that have parallels in Nweh society.

Music

The music of the Mardi Gras Indians consists of two inter-related characteristics - very complex percussion-based polyrhythms and a “call-and-response” format. The rhythms are played on a variety of percussion instruments, including drums of various varieties, tambourines, cow bells, and assorted home-made or ad hoc instruments that are played with sticks.

The rhythmic structure of Mardi Gras Indian music is reminiscent of the music produced by organizations in Nweh called Lefem Societies, which also play music with very complex poly-rhythms. Indeed, my interest in the topic of this paper began when I first had the great honor and pleasure of participating in one of the Lefem Societies while in Lebialem. The music made me immediately think of the Mardi Gras Indians. Let me quickly point out, though, that, although I refer here to “Lefem music”, Lefem is much more than music. It is part of what is one of the most sacred and important traditions within Nweh culture. The instruments are not said to be played, but rather the “musicians” are merely the vehicles by which the instruments play themselves. So, while it is necessary to speak of Lefem as music here, in order to explain my points, please understand that it is a gross oversimplification to call it music. It is much more than that.

In addition to the rhythmic structure, the ensemble of instruments used in Lefem is akin to those used by the Mardi Gras Indians, although those of Lefem are more formally fixed and elaborate. Lefem instruments consist of drums, gongs, and rattles. The gongs are particularly interesting. They consist of double inverted cones attached at the bottom by a U-shaped iron connector. They are hand-wroughtby traditional smiths in Lebialem. The variation in size means, in effect, that the different gongs are tuned to different notes.

Although call and response is not a part of Lefem, there is another form of music in Nweh culture that does have a call-and-response structure - Legwih, that is performed particularly at “cry-dies” or celebrations of the life of a person who has died in Lebialem. In Legwih, and particularly the epvoeuh part of legwih, a lead singer shakes rattles and sings a line or two at a time about the deceased, followed by a chanted refrain from the surrounding group. Historically, certain singers were legendary for their ability to sing Legwih, which, among other things, requires the singer to spontaneously create poetic lyrics as he or she sings (thanks to Nic Fontem and Philip Tazi for this description of Legwih).

In sum, one can find examples in traditional Nweh culture of three key characteristics of the music of the Mardi Gras Indians—the poly-rhythmic musical structure, the call-and-response format, and the ensemble of percussion instruments that is used to create the music.

Attitude toward the music

I mentioned above that Lefem of the Nweh people is much more than merely music, but rather it is part of an ancient and sacred tradition. Mardi Gras Indian music is also much more than music. The traditional Sunday-night practices typically officially begin when the “Big Chief” of the tribe sings a prayer song called “Indian Red“, a “…prayer song honoring various gang members, past and present, and asking for peace and justice” (Smith, 1994, p. 111). As he sings, members of the tribe step forward and participate by singing, playing instruments, and/or dancing. In general, when the Indians perform their chants, they see themselves as honoring the “spirits” and participating in a type of ancient spiritual ritual.

Social structure

The Mardi Gras Indian tribes have very formal social structures. Although not every tribe is identical, a typical set of titles includes (Anon, 2006):

• The Big Chief, who is the leader of the tribe.
• The Big Queen, who stays close to the Big Chief and is his primary advisor.
• The Spyboy whose job during parading is to stay out in front of the rest of the tribe and to inform them of conditions, particularly the presence of another tribe.
• The First Flag, or Gang Flag, who carries an elaborately decorated staff with the name and symbol of the tribe. He also relays messages from the Spyboy back to the Big Chief.
• The Medicine Man, who “invokes” favorable spirits for the tribe.
• The Witch Doctor, who is the primary keeper of the mystical traditions of the tribe.
• The Second Scout, who relays messages from the Spyboy.
• The Wild Man, who is a symbolic bodyguard for the Big Chief, and, thus, who carries symbolic weapons.
• The Lil Chief, who is the “chief in training”, or designated successor to the Big Chief.

 This formal social structure is reminiscent of the reigning council of a Nweh chief, or Fua. As described by HRH Chief Fonkem Achankeng (Fuankem, 2004), the reigning council of a Fua consists of the following positions:

• The Nkwetta, who is the deputy to the chief and the one who traditionally led the warriors into battle.
• The Mafua, or “Princess Royal”, who is head of the women of the kingdom.
• The Ankwetta, who assists the Mafua.
• The Ase’ah, who is the liaison between the reigning council and others in the kingdom.

A Fua is also assisted by the Troh society, a group of close advisors, and the Bekem (plural of Nkem), or nobles in his kingdom.

In sum, the Mardi Gras Indians have a set of formal title holders who answer to the Big Chief. The structure is by no means identical, but the pattern is conceptually similar to that of the Fua, and Mafua, and the other title holders in Nweh society.

Dancing

Dancing is integral to Mardi Gras Indian traditions. In their parades, the Indians dance as they march along. In particular, there is a “second line” of dancers, just as there is with a marching brass band. Mardi Gras Indian dancing would not seem out of place at a Nweh cry-die, where one group after another parades/dances, accompanied by percussion music. The style of dancing is also not dramatically different from that of Lefem, which involves a hypnotic interplay between music and a particular form of dancing. It is also rather similar to the dancing that accompanies Nteh, which is the general name for various other forms of Nweh music.

In particular, there is a type of dancing that happens at Mardi Gras Indian practices that is analogous to what one sees with some types of Nteh. One of the features of a Mardi Gras Indian practice is that an open alley is formed within the crowd to provide room for dancers, who compete with each other in the space so formed. They sing and dance in all sorts of elaborate and free-form ways, challenging each other todancing “duels”. This is analogous to something one sees in at least one form of Nteh, in which the dancers form a circle that moves around the musicians. As the circle moves along, it is common for other dancers to come from outside the circle and challenge individual dancers to “dance offs”, in which each dancer will engage in all sorts of improvised moves. In Nweh, this challenge is far from being a threat. It is rather a greeting and an acknowledgement of the dancer, and above all, a friendly invitation to the dancer to display his/her skills. In sum, the types of dancing associated with the Mardi Gras Indians can be found in strikingly similar form in Nwehland.

Secrecy

The Mardi Gras Indians certainly show a public face, or at least a semi-public face, in that many of the tribes stay primarily in their own neighborhoods. However, many of their customs and rituals are secret. As Larry Bannock, the President of the New Orleans Mardi Gras Indian Council, put it, “Mardi Gras Indians are secretive because only certain people participated in masking—people with questionable character” (quote from mardigrasindians.com). I maintain that Mr. Bannock was mistaken about this—that the reason for secrecy has less to do with the “questionable character” of the Indians than it does with the historical connection to West African secret societies.

In fact, each of the Mardi Gras Indian tribes is a form of secret society, with its own secret signs, and often with its own “unknown tongues”, that surely go back to West Africa. Indeed, while not secret, many of the standard Mardi Gras Indian songs have words with no known meaning in English, as typical titles indicate— Handa Wanda, Iko-Iko, Jock-A-Mo, Two-Way-Pocky-Way (Morgan, 2002). Another secret of a tribe is the route that it will take on Mardi Gras day.

As described by Brain (1967), Nweh society contains a number of secret societies, including the Lefem Societies referred to above. The tradition is for a given Lefem Society to meet in a sacred copse, or lefem, adjacent to the chief’s palace. Lefem is only traditionally performed in these Lefem forests, or inside a structure, so that only members of the group can directly have access to the performance. There is also the Troh society, which is linked to a given chief, and consists of his traditional advisors including the Mafua (Princess Royal). Members of the Troh society mask and perform “mysterious dances”, as Brain (1962) puts it. Other traditional societies mentioned by Brain include Aka, or the “society of the rich”, which, like the Lefem Society includes the taking of secret oaths, Afu‘ka and Manjong, which were warrior societies, but now limit their activities primarily to dancing, Angbu, Ngkpe, and Alungatshaba, which all involve “joyous dancing and singing” (Brain, 1967, p. 26), and Ku’hn gang, which was a traditional anti-witchcraft society whose members were privy to powerful potions. In sum, the Mardi Gras Indians, as secret societies that play music, sing, and dance, have a number of precedents in Nweh culture.

Costumes

The Mardi Gras Indians make elaborate costumes with decorations of beadwork and feathers. These also have precedents in Nweh culture. The dancing societies, such as Angbu and Niyangkpe, as Brain (1967) puts it, are “associated with elaborate costumes and masks”. There are even examples in Nwehland of feathered costumes worn on special occasions, and there is a tradition of embroidered beaded masks associated with the Aka societies. Thus, the idea of making fancy costumes, including masks, with feathers and beads that are worn on special occasions, can be found in Nweh society.

Conclusion

I have attempted to show that the types of traditions that still exist today in Lebialem have too much in common with those of the Mardi Gras Indians for it to be a coincidence. Indeed, I believe that the Mardi Gras Indians represent a truly remarkable continuation of West African secret societies, right through slavery, the years of Jim Crow, and through all the other changes in New Orleans and the U.S., in general, from at least the early 1700s until the present day.

And the Mardi Gras Indians are clearly one of the key sources for American popular music. Surely, as at least one of the most important keepers of the “African flame”, the Indians were major contributors to the origins of jazz. Indeed, according to Morgan (2002), Jelly Roll Morton, the piano player who is one of the fathers of jazz, described himself as having been influenced by the Indians and may even have been an Indian at some point in his life. And, later, Professor Longhair (Henry Roland Byrd), who single-handedly invented rock and roll, if anyone did, was clearly highly influenced by the Mardi Gras Indians. In fact, the words to more than one of his songs, including his most famous, Tipitina, contain Mardi-Gras-Indian-like lyrics, as the following verse from Tipitina indicates (Paxton, undated):

Tra-la-la tee-nee-na-na,
Tipitina tra-la-la,
Tipitina oo-la mall-a wall-a dall-a
Tra-la tee-na-na

Does this mean that American music came from Lebialem? Well, let me put it this way—Popular American music certainly owes more to the Nweh and other groups in West Africa than it does to anything that came from Europe. Here is the test: Does contemporary popular music in the U.S. sound more like 18th Century European music or more like traditional Nweh music that we have every reason to believe has remained reasonably similar to its 18th Century antecedents? To my ear, there is no question at all that popular American music is more African than European.

It follows that American music is one of the areas where the mainstream culture is not a “white” culture at all, despite various claims to the contrary. Finally, I must point out that many of the very neighborhoods (e.g., the Lower Ninth Ward and the Seventh Ward) in New Orleans that harbor the Mardi Gras Indians were the ones that were devastated by the recent hurricane. This situation means that these rich cultural traditions are presently at risk.

References

• Anon (2000). “Mardi Gras Indians: order of the march”, mardigrasdigest.com.
• Anon (2006). “Mardi Gras Indians: Tradition and History”, mardigrasindians.com.
• Brain, Robert (1967). The Bangwa of West Cameroon, London: University College.
• Clark, Willie W. (1999). “A short history of the Mardi Gras Indians of New Orleans”. mardigrasdigest. com.
• Fuankem A. (2004). “The Decline of Lefua in Nweh”. In John F. Nkemnji & Philip A. Tazi (Eds.) Development and Cultural Transformation in Lebialem. Madison: Nkemnji Global Tech Publishers.
• Morgan, Thomas L. (2002). “Mardi Gras Indian influence on the music of New Orleans”, jass.com.
• Paxton, Josh (Undated). Professor Longhair Collection, Milwaukee: Hal Leonard Corp.
• Smith, Michael (1994). Mardi Gras Indians. Gretna, LA: Pelican Publishing Co.

Photo Credits

• Image 1: Courtesy of Tom Morgan
• Image 2: Courtesy of Tom Morgan
• Image 3: Courtesy of Stephanie Knopp
• Image 4: Courtesy of Stephanie Knopp
• Image 5: Courtesy of mardigrasindians.com
• Image 6: Courtesy of mardigrasindians.com