October 29, 2023

Journey To Nawlins, Chapter XV : Wild Injuns Down In New Orleans*
(The Wild Tchoupitoulas, Bo Dollis & The Wild Magnolias, Big Chief Monk Boudreaux, Donald Harrison Jr & Congo Square Nation, Chief Adjuah & the Xodokan Nation of Maroons, And Many More...)


Flamboyant Black Masked Indians
Mardi Gras Indians are probably the most exotic and picturesque element of New Orleans unique cultural traditions. Actually the term “Mardi Gras Indians” is not used by those it designates. They rather call themselves “Black Indians” or “Masked Indians” or “Black Masked Indians”/”Black Masking Indians”, “masking” meaning dressed in personally hand-crafted costume.

Black Masked Indians, were originally organized in “gangs” (if you listen closely to their chants, you'll hear the word “gang” numerous times). Today the word used is “tribe”, in some cases “nation”.
But Black Indians are not just African-Americans who disguise as American Indians for Mardi Gras. This tradition reflects an essential element that was generally overlooked by outside observers : the Black Indians' important Native American roots that go back to over 300 years.

It All Started 300 Years Ago
Iberville statue
in Quebec City
If Black Indians as they are known today date back to the end of the 18th Century, the origin of this tradition are older and draw from both the African and Native American heritage.
In 1699, the French-Canadian Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville (1661-1706) discovered the Mississippi mouth and installed a camp on a plot of dry land 60 miles south of the future New Orleans that he baptized "Pointe du Mardi Gras" (Mardi Gras Point) as the expedition landed on Mardi Gras eve…
Bienville statue
in New Orleans
In 1718, his brother Jean-Baptise Le Moyne de Bienville founded the port colony and river fort of New Orleans. A year later, in 1719, the first two shiploads of African slaves reached the New Orleans harbor and the Africans were put up for sale to the first planters to replace Native slaves ill adapted to the cultivation of sugarcane and cotton.

Slowly, the African, West Indian and Haitian slaves and the Natives began to understand each other's language enough to communicate and develop positive relations, working together in particular on planning escapes.
Runaway slaves on the
Swampland Railroad
The first recorded escape of a slave from a plantation took place in 1722. The archives bear no mention if he was ever found. Three years later in 1725, for the first time, archives recorded successful cases of African slaves escaping to the bayou, aided by Natives.
A maroon camp in the bayou
Black slaves and native people finally established the “Swampland Railroad”, an underground system to help those who couldn’t escape on their own to reach the maroon camps in the swamps and bayous. Often, the Natives welcomed the escapees in their own communities, and the relationship extended to the natural human laws : Native women were getting pregnant from black men, giving birth to “mulattos”.

The Natchez Revolt
In 1729, 280 African slaves joined with 176 Natchez Indians on a violent raid on forts, homesteads and plantations in the region. Known as the "Natchez Revolt", the uprising was crushed in blood, but it strengthened the links between both communities.

Sunday dance in Congo Square
The first recorded reference to slaves dancing at gatherings held on a plantation were found in the archives of the year 1732. In 1744, in New Orleans the "Place des Nègres" (later known as Congo Square) became the established place where slaves and free people of color met, traded, exchanged news, and sung and danced to
traditional African rhythms, on Sundays.

In 1746 archives begin to refer to slaves dressing as Indians on Mardi Gras : the first known "Black Indians".
Black people were only allowed to attend the city festivities as servants, but not the Natives. The bravest black revelers then crafted masks to go with their disguise costumes to sneak in forbidden events undetected. Masks were soon outlawed as well, but a centuries-long tradition was born.

In 1783, the Perseverance Benevolent & Mutual Aid Association was formed by free men of color, to serve as a unique form of insurance and social aid to the black community. This was the first of hundreds of “Social Aid & Pleasure Clubs” and Carnival organizations formed in New Orleans that would later become the cornerstone of most of the African-American “krewes” and Mardi Gras parades.
The 1811 uprising
However following the 1811 slave revolt in St. John Parish, one of the greatest slave uprising in American history, rules became much harder : all gatherings by slaves and free men of color were prohibited. This ended all masking by the Black Indians. They entered a period of secrecy, but the art was still practiced, and the costumes for which they are extremely famous today began to appear, a cross between African ritual outfits and those of the Native Americans.

It's only around 1835 that historical archives report a revival of Black Masked Indians. But since the early 1800's, the cultural differences of the French, Spanish and Anglo-Saxons successive rulers resulted in rivalry between districts, between uptown and downtown neighborhoods, and between West Indian rooted communities and those of straighter African origins.
Members of the NOPD today
These racial and cultural differences were passed on to the Black Indians gangs. On Mardi Gras day, encounters of two rival gangs often ended with gunfights, stabbings, and hatchet attacks, while the police were busy controlling the crowds during the parade on Bourbon Street and St. Charles Av. The NOPD didn't have the man power or even the desire to respond to calls of violence in the black sections of town.

From the late 19th Century to the first half of the 20th, the public began to refer to Black Masked Indians as Mardi Gras Indians, since the only opportunity to see them was during the Carnival season, and especially on Mardi Gras day.
New Orleans carnival circa 1900
It was in the same period that Black Indians music took the form known today, a kind of “second line” adaptation (with no brass but lots of percussion) of age-old rituals, preserved and practiced by the descendants of the African slaves, going back to the perambulating societies of West Africa and their call-and-response chants and to the secret societies of masked warriors of both African and Native American cultures, through the unsanctioned moonlight ceremonies conducted by plantations slaves under pain of death. It's quite a miracle that it survived ! Read below about the musical evolution of this very special genre during the last hundred years.

The 8th Ward Hunters
and their Queen Anita in 1949
After World War II Black Indians chiefs began to realize that killing each other was not the right way to preserve their tradition, and by the late 1960's, the wave of violence has pretty much given way to a whole new form of showdown : who wears the “prettiest” costume (“pretty” is the word used by Black Indians themselves to show appreciation of an “Indian” when he or she unveils his or her new costume on the morning of Mardi Gras day).
Until that period, Black Indians costumes were generally inspired by the stereotypical Hollywoodian images of the ceremonial suits and feather head-dresses of the Natives. From then, a wind of creativity started to blow on the Black Indians, producing the incredible work of arts known today, including more and more elements of African culture.

Descendants of black slaves and
native Seminoles
Another essential aspect of the Black Masked Indians tradition was overlooked for a long time, as mentioned earlier : the interbreeding between Africans and Native Americans, especially before the Emancipation, resulted in the development of a mixed-race ethnic group of growing importance.
Many Black Indians are actually from both African and Native American origin. For example Big Chief Allison “Tootie” Montana of the Yellow Pocahontas, and Big Chief Monk Boudreaux of the Golden Eagles, both have Choctaw and Cherokee ancestors. The grand-mother of “Lil' Walter” Cook, head of the oldest Black Indian tribe, the Creole Wild West, was a full-blooded Choctaw...
Muddy Waters had
some Cherokee blood
Similarly, to stick to the entertainment world, not many people know that James Brown had Apache blood, Tina Turner, Cherokee and Navarro origins, Michael Jackson, Choctaw and Blackfoot ancestors, Lena Horne, Lakota (Sioux) forefathers, and that Ben Harper, Beyoncé, Rosa Parks, Oprah Winfrey, Jimmy Hendrix, Duke Ellington, Muddy Waters and Chuck Berry all had at least one Cherokee ancestor.

Today academic research has reached the same conclusion that Black Indians have always known : many Black Indians are not only from “black” African descent but are also partly Native American “Indian”. So that the Black Masked Indian tradition is not only a grateful tribute to a people who helped African slaves to escape servitude but for some chiefs and tribe members, also a tribute to their own ancestors.

Big Chief Allison “Tootie” Montana
of the Yellow Pocahontas
sewing his costume
The Black Indians amazing disguise outfits, which can weigh up to over a hundred pounds, require months and months of patient designing, cutting out, sewing and beading, and can cost thousands of dollars.
Today there are some 40 Black Indian tribes in the Crescent City, organized according to a precise hierarchy : Flag boy, Spy boy, Second Chief up to the Big Chief and Queen.
Even on Mardi Gras Day the unveiling of the year's costume and other activities are limited to local neighborhoods. The only mass appearances take place on the night of Saint Joseph's Day and on Super Sunday, and more recently at the annual Jazz and Heritage Festival.

Today those who preserve this historical tradition stress its importance to comfort a cultural future in New Orleans, especially in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. ■

* “Wild Injuns Down In New Orleans” : chorus line from the Neville Brothers' song 'Wild Injuns” from their album “Yellow Moon” (1989) .

The Long Emergence Of Black Indian Music
Big Chief Edward
of the White Eagles
in 1952
For a very long time, Black Indians behaved like a secret society, having little interest in sharing their tradition with the outside world. Things started to change in particular when some of them were featured at the first edition of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival in 1970. Emerging from the relative obscurity of their neighborhoods in the following years, especially with the rise of a new generation of Chiefs, they drew more and more attention from the public.
This was amplified when a few tribes started to release commercial recordings of their music with a backing band and more sophisticated arrangements than the mere percussion which usually accompanied them during their street parades. In studio and on stage, they were backed by excellent musicians, and their repertoire started to stretch to new styles.

Chanting, dancing, parading...
Here the Golden Comanche tribe
Chanting and dancing were the main means of expression of Black Masked Indians. Their traditional call-and-response chant were punctuated by drums, congas, tambourines and makeshift percussive instruments. Their influence on New Orleans Mardi Gras music is tremendous. The lyrics of the Indians chants very often derive from the early Creole patois (a peculiar mix of old French and English, sprinkled with some Native words). It's the case of most of the iconic “Indian” songs of the New Orleans Mardi Gras repertoire : “Iko Iko”, “Handa Wanda”, “Jockomo”, "Two-Way-Pocky-Way", etc., as many songs whose orthographic transcription vary according to their different versions and interpreters.

Louis Dumaine
The example of the famous "Two-Way-Pocky-Way" is quite interesting. The cornet player Louis Dumaine (1890-1949) was the first to use this “Indian” phrase in the title of his 1927 jazz instrumental "To-Wa-Bac-A-Wa". In his book “Mister Jelly Roll” about Jelly Roll Morton, the renowned ethno-musicologist Allan Lomax reveals the original Creole patois spelling of the title of this song directly linked to the violent confrontation of Black Indians gangs : the chief calls "T'ouwais, bas q'ouwais" and the tribe members respond "Ou tendais", which may be translated as "I'll kill you (t'ouwais>tuer>kill) if you don't get off the way” (bas q'ouwais>back away), the response being “Hear this” (ou tendais>entendez>hear me).

Danny Barker
Other iconic chant of the Black Masked Indian cultural heritage, "Jock-A-Mo" (and its variants “Jockomo” or "Chockamo”), also known as “Iko Iko”, is the oldest Indian chant ever mentioned : a 1879 account of the Mardi Gras parade of that year in the Daily Picayune reports a Black Masked Indian tribe clearly singing “Chick-A-Ma-Feeno”.
In the 1940's, Danny Barker (1909-1994) & his Creole Cats recorded four Indian chants for the King Zulu label, released on two successive 78rpms. The first, in 1946, featured the Indian prayer "Indian Red" recorded as "My Indian Red". The second, in 1948, was "Chocko Me Feendo Hey". The Barker version was an adaptation of the song transcribed on paper by Eugene Honoré (1892-1931), a real Chocktaw Indian and full member of the Yellow Pocahontas tribe.

Sugar Boy Crawford
in charming company
In 1950, Dave Bartholomew used Indian chants in his song “Carnival Day”, including the "Two-Way-Pocky-Way" chant as well as the complex rhythms associated with Black Indians.

In 1953 Sugar Boy Crawford recorded a version of the traditional "Chockamo” retitled "Jock-A-Mo". In a later interview he explained that the original title was "Chockamo" but that a misunderstanding of what he was singing ended up being titled "Jock-A-Mo."
When the Dixie Cups recorded a new version, titled “Iko Iko”, in 1965, it was the first Indian inspired song to escape New Orleans and become a national hit.

In 1956, music historian Samuel Charters made the first live field recordings of Black Indians. "Red White & Blue Got The Golden Band" and "To-Wa-Bac-A-Way" by members of different tribes are both featured on the LP "Music of New Orleans: Volume 1" released by Folkways Records in 1959.

Dr John
In 1958, Huey "Piano" Smith's "Don't You Know Yockomo" includes references to Indian music and culture.

In 1968, Dr. John's "Mama Roux", from the album "Gris Gris Gumbo Ya Ya", featured an Indian reference through the line "She was the Queen of the Little Red White & Blue," clearly alluding to the Little Red White and Blue tribe.

But the first real breakthrough of authentic Black Indian music came in 1970 with the single "Handa Wanda Pts 1&2" by Bo Dollis and the Wild Magnolias, followed in 1974 with the LP “The Wild Magnolias” where Bo Dollis and his group are accompanied by the New Orleans Project band (in particular “Willie Tee” Turbinton on organ and his brother Earl Turbinton on sax and clarinet, both formerly members of The Gaturs band, Snooks Eaglin on guitar and Big Chief Monk Boudreaux on vocals…)
Bo Dollis Sr.
The Wild Magnolias and their picturesque Big Chief and lead singer Bo Dollis, went beyond the strict “Black Indians” repertoire to incorporate funk, second line brass music and even covers of non-Orleanian titles like the superb “Louisiana” from Randy Newman. For complete info, read the page devoted to the group a few months ago.

The Wild Tchoupitoulas, lead by George "Big Chief Jolly" Landry, also stand as pioneers with their eponymous 1976 album (audio link below). They are backed by Landry's nephews Art, Charles, Aaron and Cyril Neville who recorded for the first time together on this occasion and will soon become the Neville Brothers.

Monk Boudreaux (r.)
with Bo Dollis
In the following years, a number of Black Indian groups touched a wider audience beyond their neighborhood. One of them is Big Chief Monk Boudreaux, a former member of the Wild Magnolias before taking the head of the Golden Eagles, and becoming a legendary figure of Black Indian music. He is also a loyal member of Tab Benoit's Voice Of The Wetlands All-Stars.
Monk Boudreaux with Voice
of the Wetlands Allstars

At the time I'm writing these lines, he is the oldest living Black Indian chief at nearly 82, after White Eagles' Big Chief Edward (Isaac ‘Mr Ike’ Edward Jr.) died at age 94 in 2017. Audio links to some of his representative recordings are featured further below.

Champion Jack Dupree
In 1991 even the great pianist Champion Jack Dupree composed an ode to the Yellow Pocahontas tribe aptly titled "Yella Pocahontas".

The next year, on his album "Goin' Back to New Orleans", Dr. John did a new and wonderful arrangement of "My Indian Red" on which he calls the names of all the current and historic Big Chiefs.



"June" Victory
Released in 1992 also, The Bayou Renegades's eponymous album “Bayou Renegade” presents a funky vision of the Black Indians' repertoire (audio link below).
Behind the band, hides the somehow mysterious Wilson Victory aka June Victory who, along with his band, worked with Ernie K-Doe and above all toured across the world as member of the Bo Dollis & The Wild Magnolias' backing band and became a reference in Mardi Gras music.

Big Chief Kevin Goodman
& the Flaming Arrows
On their 1997 release, on Mardi Gras Records, “Here Come The Indians Now”, the Flaming Arrows revisit the same funk influences that marked the early Wild Magnolias recordings (audio link below).

Big Chief Juan Pardo
The 2017 collective album "Voices of the Nation" features some of the best singers from different tribes (Juan Pardo, Kentrell Watson, Jeremy Stevenson, Romeo Bougere) and is considered by some specialists as one of the most authentic Black Indian music releases (audio link below).

Donald Harrison Jr (born in 1960) is a special case of musical eclecticism. As a very elegant and respected modern jazz saxophonist, he played with dozens of jazz masters like Roy Haynes, Jack McDuff or Eddie Palmieri, was a member of the famous Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers along with trumpeter Terence Blanchard…
He also developed influential new jazz styles : a modern jazz version of New Orleans second-line, in the late 1970's while only 19; “Nouveau Swing”, a distinctive sound merging acoustic swing with modern R&B, second-line, hip-hop or reggae rhythms, in the 1980's; and later his own blend of “Black Indian jazz” illustrated by the 1992 album “Indian Blues”,featuring Dr. John and mixing Indian chants (by the Guardians of the Flame, with his father Big Chief Donald Harrison Sr. on vocals), with jazz and funk (audio link below).
Donald Harrison Sr. in the 1960's
His father Donald Harrison Sr. (1933-1998), engaged in the Black Indians tradition as soon as 1939, became successively Big Chief of the Creole Wild West, the Cherokee Braves, and the White Eagles tribes before founding the Guardians of the Flame in 1988.
He wasn’t the first one engaged in the Black Indians tradition. His uncle Joseph was before him, so that today the Harrison family count five generations of Masked Indians.

Donald Harrison Jr. &
his nephew Christian Scott
Harrison Jr. continued walking in his family path and was named Big Chief of the Congo Square Nation Afro-New Orleans Cultural Group in 1999. Meanwhile, he mentored a number of young musicians including his nephew, trumpeter Christian Scott. Both recorded several albums together, notably “Kind of New” in 2002, and “Two of a Kind” in 2009.

First self-rebaptized Christian Atunde Adjuah in 2012 to mark his family's West African lineage, Christian Scott legally changed his name to Xian aTunde Adjuah in 2023.
Born in New Orleans in 1983, he started to study jazz at 12 with his uncle before attending the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, and later the Berklee College of Music in Boston, graduating in 2004. Meanwhile, this extremely gifted trumpet player joined his uncle's quintet when he was just 16.
In 2005, he started his own recording career on the Concord Music label releasing several albums, and from 2010, following the steps of his uncle, created his “Stretch Music” concept, a fusion of Latin and African traditions, electronic dance music styles (hip-hop, techno, dub…), traditional West African percussion, and New Orleanian “Afro-Native American” styles. This ambitious concept is flamboyant on his 2012 double album “Christian aTunde Adjuah” (audio link below) and his following albums.
In 2021, Adjuah formed a new group, Chief Adjuah & the Sound Carved from Legend. Last June 2023, “Bark Out Thunder Roar Out Lightning” came out on Ropeadope Records, an amazing work strongly emphasizing the African roots of Black Indian music, and the first album on which “Chief” Adjuah doesn't touch his trumpet, but plays an African-inspired bow of his own design (audio link below also).
Adjuah created the instrument in 2021. It is a hybridized  ►
 double-sided harp designed as a bridge between modern electric guitars and traditional West African melodic instruments like the N'goni (Donso N’goni and Kamele N'goni) and the Kora.
Chief Adjuah of the Xodokan
Nation of Maroons

Adjuah began participating in his grandfather's Guardians of the Flame in 1988 and joined his uncle's Congo Square Nation in 1999 after his grandfather's death. Today, Adjuah is Chief of the Xodokan Nation of Maroons. In 2023, he was honored as “Grand Griot” of New Orleans by the Ashe Cultural Arts Center.

There is also a very peculiar Black Indian group, so resolutely turned towards Africa that I could qualify it as “Black Masked Africans” : The Spirit of Fi Yi Yi and The Mandingo Warriors.
They dress like scary African sorcerers and secret societies warriors, and sing hypnotic chants over a thunder of West African hand-drums.
The “tribe” was founded in 1984 by Victor Harris who had left the Yellow Pocahontas of the respected Chief “Tootie” Montana after spending 18 years as their “flagboy”. One night, he was visited by a spirit he instinctively called Fi Yi Yi. From that day their music and chants aim at sounding as close a possible to those of their pre-slavery African ancestors (audio link below).

Among the new generation of musicians claiming to belong to the Black Indian music tradition, hip-hopers, rappers and bouncers seem to have colonized the genre for the better (sometimes) and for the worse (most of the time, as far as I feel it).

Flagboy Giz
It's for example the case of Flagboy Giz. Though he spent a decade in the Wild Tchoupitoulas and wear flashy Indian costumes, alas, his hip-hop fueled repertoire has little to do with Black Masked Indian music celebrated by his talented elders. Maybe I'm getting too old to appreciate all this noisy hip-hop stuff, but for me it's a pity (audio links to three albums below).

Cha Wa
Fortunately some of the new bands stay more loyal to the roots of “Indian” music. Cha Wa, for example, stands out for their original mix of New Orleans brass band and Black Indian music, radiating the energy of urban street culture (audio links to three albums as well below).

The Rumble with
Joseph Boudreaux Jr.
In 2021, seven members of Cha Wa seceded to form The Rumble. After this massive exodus, the collective vowed to both preserve and further a musical vision that blends New Orleans culture from past, present and future. The group is fronted by Joseph Boudreaux Jr., formerly Second Chief of the legendary Golden Eagles and son of Monk Boudreaux (audio link to their live album below)..

There's many more Black Indian recording artists than those mentioned above. The following list of albums available for listening on YT illustrates the rich diversity of the unique Black Masked Indian tradition of New Orleans . ■

Albums To Listen (Audio Playlists)
► The Wild Tchoupitoulas - The Wild Tchoupitoulas (1976) : https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mSmiv9VaJEejK_mfoP-HCUrK8EbJhZnbo
► Bo Dollis & The Wild Magnolias
► Big Chief Monk Boudreaux / The Golden Eagles
→ The Golden Eagles feat. Monk Boudreaux - Lightning & Thunder (1988) : https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mzZekKSAFtn6gY73umrrpC0s5mCdSJCFM
→ Anders Osborne & Monk Boudreaux - Bury the Hatchet (2002) : https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kNo1XFhidXuDpJjz2DRvHAC6jJMcab-qg
► The exciting album “Bayou Renegade” (1992) from June Victory (aka Wilson Victory) & The Bayou Renegades was co-produced by the famous Milton Batiste who signed four of the twelve tracks. Unfortunately, it seems to be totally unknown on YT. All I found by way of solace is this 10-minute version of “Go to the Mardi Gras”, most likely recorded prior to the 1992 album : https://youtu.be/IlFn5LovXTs
► The Flaming Arrows - Here Come The Indians Now (1997) : https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_myF3yEjeTqOYmK96jUHelDaseZKukxZQ0
► Big Chief Alfred Doucette - Rollin' Wit Da Legends & Marie Laveau (2007) : https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mtIinoyuQ-uQ0o57baIeU2_30uLHk3pNk
► Donald Harrison Jr
→ Indian Blues (feat. the Guardians Of The Flame, Donald Harrison Sr., "Big Chief" Smiley Ricks & Dr. John, 1992)* : https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kVREXSBt7WZevpRIV5yp0cS195DGMwepc
→  Donald Harrison Jr & The New Orleans Legacy Ensemble - Spirits of Congo Square (2000) : https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nRGrsNpSAwR2a5s2V2zyDIPfM9laVLtt0
→ Congo Square Suite (feat. The Moscow Symphony Orchestra, 2023) : https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_n36ArNV6x-CfbmNYItSqROgrShJ7HAvpc
* Note that Donald Harrison's album “Big Chief” from 2002 is just a re-issue of “Indian Blues” with a different track order.
► Christian aTunde Adjuah/Chief Adjuah
→ Chief Adjuah : Bark Out Thunder Roar Out Lightning (2023) : https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_l2bDQAYKI4iSmu6sHDHDTxRpDxJ4n-4l4
► 101 Runners – Mardi Gras Indian Funk ! (feat. Big Chief Monk Boudreaux) (2010) : https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mVM3vDaZrFV7Bkks93M54auIWUkis-v2E
► The Spirit of Fi Yi Yi & The Mandingo Warriors - When That Morning Comes (2016) : https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lP02E69zg8ALdrshYLAZ6G5PKOLc2sDJ8
► Big Chief Juan Pardo
→ Big Chief Juan Pardo and The Golden Comanche - Spirit Food (2015) : https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_m6oCrYBNB1i7Y7bSot85MrAIz2MNlo_1w
→ Juan Pardo & Voices Of A Nation (feat. Kentrell Watson, Jeremy Stevenson & Romeo Bougere) - Voices of a Nation (2017) : https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_n8GtqCzaxMLGj8g8cs3anqqWd599AZLpg
► Cha Wa
► Spy Boy Shotgun Slim – Tuba Fattz Lil’ Cuzzin (EP, 2016) : https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_msWA9VTI4py3lb6ca5dkjNPxVCo2nRmPs
► The Monogram Hunters – Blood Sweat And Tears (2020) : https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lNwyaPxwGyjICwnpPNSlMTznByO9542So
► Nation of Gumbolia – Filé (2020) : https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mZiN4245KYbLURpvDKR-Eq7kzBN2XyRxE
► Flagboy Giz' three albums (Flagboy of the Nation, 2021 - I Got Indian In My Family, 2022 - Disgrace to the Culture, 2023) : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC28nu6g7b1RiylWhQGM96yw
► The Rumble ft. Chief Joseph Boudreaux Jr. – Live at the Maple Leaf Bar (2023) : https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kfIs7gih3UOYD7DsqyBrnLIgE0iKxXNlM

Videos
A big load of captivating documentaries
The 9th Ward Comanche Hunters (2015)
► Mardi Gras Indians down in New Orleans, a series of shorts films from the Alan Lomax Archive (1938-1982) : https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUHBQIqOyKxbi8l9Xz4gZjXYWVTbJbceI
► St Joseph Night 2017 : https://youtu.be/1vNUu3iSvxs
► Heritage of Black Indians' customs & culture (2018) : https://youtu.be/wc7H7xcqx0g
► Big Chief Alfred Doucette sews for Mardi Gras and reveals some of the stories behind his costume designs (2018) : https://youtu.be/p4nr0JfBlRg
Big Chief Shaka Zulu...
a peculier name for an "Indian"!
► Interview : Big Chief Shaka Zulu of the Golden Feather Hunter tribe (2019) : https://youtu.be/zR1unGLEa_o
► Mardi Gras Day with the Hard Head Hunters (2020) : https://youtu.be/ptl04uzxxsM
► "We Won't Bow Down", a documentary film from Chris Bower (2020) : https://youtu.be/wZSNWvGj9Wg
► Conversation with a new generation of Big Chiefs: traditions and music of Mardi Gras Indians (2022) : https://youtu.be/ozoh3K7Hufc
► It's Your Glory : the Black Indian Queens of Carnival (2022) : https://youtu.be/-Gx2WDAPwX4
► "From slavery to Black Indians : the extraordinary journey of the New Orleans African-Americans", an international symposium in conjunction with the “Black Indians from New Orleans” exhibition at the Musée du Quai Branly-Jacques Chirac, Paris, France (2022) :
79rs Gang on stage
→ #1 : https://youtu.be/qbiYGY9hRp8
→ Completed with a concert of 79rs Gang : https://youtu.be/XmfvAFt16Fc?t=668
Monk Boudreaux sewing his
"Wild Magnolias" costume
► The Year of Dedication That Goes Into Becoming a Mardi Gras Indian (2022) : https://youtu.be/-b7Gg_A3_XQ
► Understanding The Black Masking Indians of New Orleans, Auburn Avenue Research Library (2022) : https://youtu.be/nhtT_uGRZL4
► St. Joseph Night 2022 :
► Black Indians Super Sunday 2022 : https://youtu.be/Xe1R33dyPXs
► Black Indians Super Sunday 2023 :
► Black Masking Indians : a historical New Orleans Carnival tradition, commented by Big Chief Shaka Zulu (2023) : https://youtu.be/VsOxxz4h1rU

Wild Injuns Live
Big Chief Kevin Goodman & the Flaming Arrows
► The Spirit of Fi Yi Yi and The Mandingo Warriors, New Orleans Jazz Fest, 2010 : https://youtu.be/7S7liAxf7wk
►Caution !  The next two videos present a high risk of getting in a trance ! 😉
→ Almost a Big Chiefs summit (Big Chief Kevin Goodman & the Flaming Arrows with friends Cyril Neville, Big Chief Alfred Doucette, Big Chief Ironhorse aka Cyril Green, and Chief Derold of the Young Navaho), Ruta Maya, Austin, TX, 2007 : https://youtu.be/ZBIAeVo1rUI
→ Big Chief Kevin Goodman and the Flaming Arrows parade with friend Cyril Green aka Big Chief Iron Horse, New Orleans JazzFest, 2011 : https://youtu.be/NSvhoaS45fU
Donald Harrison Jr...
► Donald Harrison Jr & Christian Scott, New Orleans Jazz Fest, 2007 (amateur video) : https://youtu.be/4tLYZq6gnKo
► "Hey Pocky Way", Donald Harrison Jr, Gulf Coast Ethnic & Heritage Jazz Fest, Mobile, AL, 2011 : https://youtu.be/dBVozNE07wE
► Donald Harrison Jr and the Congo Nation, Lusher Summer Art School, New Orleans, 2011 :
...and Big Chief Donald Harrison
► Donald Harrison Jr & Christian Scott, New Orleans, 2012 : https://youtu.be/kkJJ82EzlDM
► Big Chief Donald Harrison Jr & Congo Square Nation, “Iko Iko” & “Two Way Pocky Way”, Louis Armstrong Park, New Orleans, 2013 : https://youtu.be/xJOoP3AUwBY
► Donald Harrison Jr, Central Jersey Jazz Festival, Somerville, NJ, 2013 :
Big Chief Smiley Ricks
► Big Chief Smiley Ricks and the Indians of the Nation, Louisiana Jukebox, 2013 : https://youtu.be/Oc4KpeIuj3k
► Christian (Scott) aTunde Adjuah, Jazz Pulsations Fest., Nancy, France, 2013 : https://youtu.be/d0svr8aqFTU
► Big Chief Donald Harrison Jr & The Congo Square Nation Afro New Orleans Group (feat. Christian Scott), 2015 : https://youtu.be/yPBTLfJiY9U
► Big Chief Donald Harrison Jr with Dr. Lonnie Smith, Springfield Jazz & Roots Festival, OH, 2015 : https://youtu.be/Cz7Ti6bxblc
► Christian aTunde Adjuah, NPR (National Public Radio) Tiny Desk Concert, 2015 : https://youtu.be/mVJjmyFfuts
► Big Chief Alfred Doucette's 75th birthday bash with Big Chief Kevin Goodman and the Flaming Arrows & Jimmie Dreams and the Gristones, Austin, Texas, 2016 : https://youtu.be/FhnynB7oLwg
►  A literally stormy version on “Hold 'Em Joe” by Voice Of The Wetlands Allstars (with Big Chief Monk Boudreaux, Tab Benoit & Anders Osborne on guitar, George Porter Jr on bass, Johnny Sansone on harmonica, and Waylon Thibodeaux on fiddle), New Orleans Jazz Fest 2017 : https://youtu.be/0PkKE4lQtRM
Christian aTunde Adjuah Quintet
► Christian aTunde Adjuah Quintet, Paste Studios, NYC, 2017 : https://youtu.be/OslN5mxWZi8
► Donald Harrison Jr, Jazz and Heritage Center, New Orleans, 2018 : https://youtu.be/4LGg-ig0hMo
► Big Chief Donald Harrison Jr live from WWOZ, New Orleans, 2019 : https://youtu.be/sDDsgX6KQyY
Cha Wa
► Cha Wa, New Orleans Jazz Museum, 2019 : https://youtu.be/7t1NHvqTTx0?t=88
► Christian aTunde Adjuah, New Morning, Paris, France, 2019 : https://youtu.be/w6k8vp0KY3M
Nation of Gumbolia
► Nation of Gumbolia, French Quarter Festival, New Orleans, 2019 : https://youtu.be/cNgZDmvOJdc
► Big Chief Kevin Goodman chanting on his front porch with two members of the Flaming Arrows during the Covid pandemics, New Orleans, 2020 : https://youtu.be/3YrDIKoPHTU
► Cha Wa, The Funky Uncle, New Orleans, 2020 : https://youtu.be/rmBWZb57XJ0?t=217
► Big Chief Monk Boudreaux, Samantha Fish Cigar Box Guitar Festival, New Orleans, 2020 : https://youtu.be/h28JV7pCNHg
► Gumbolia Nation, Fillmore, New Orleans, 2020 : https://youtu.be/FLNqG4U8B-s
► Interview + “Iko Iko”, Donald Harrison Jr Quintet, New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park, 2021 : https://youtu.be/9hjiXgMHPbg?t=60
101 Runners
► 101 Runners, The Funky Uncle, New Orleans, 2021 : https://youtu.be/z41CrNCuLf0?t=190
► Cha Wa, NPR (National Public Radio) Tiny Desk Concert, 2021 : https://youtu.be/nMlnt85iysY
► Big Chief Monk Boudreaux with Luther & Cody Dickinson, Robert Mercurio and Joe Ashlar, House of Blues New Orleans, in celebration of the release of Martin Shore's documentary film “Take Me to the River : New Orleans”, 2022 : https://youtu.be/HpTQtAC_SUE?t=111
The Rumble
► The Rumble, feat. Chief Joseph Boudreaux Jr. :
→ Loyola University School of Music, New Orleans, 2022 : https://youtu.be/QdV65ze7Lfg
→ Esplanade Studios, New Orleans, 2022 : https://youtu.be/KUcZHr-Ikuo&t=42
Big Chief Monk Boudreaux (left)
► Donald Harrison Jr with the Eddie Palmieri Salsa Orchestra, Blue Note Club, NYC, 2022 : https://youtu.be/9fikpw1Gcps
► Big Chief Monk Boudreaux & the Golden Eagles, Congo Square Rhythms Festival, New Orleans, 2022 : https://youtu.be/GavnBF0WDko
► Cha Wa, River and Blues Festival, NYC, 2022 : https://youtu.be/nUCW8aXZCAk
► Big Chief Kevin Goodman and the Flaming Arrows, Voodoo Queen Kalindah Laveaux, and Ansel Augustine, 23rd annual All Saints' Day Commemoration, New Orleans Backstreet Cultural Museum, 2022 : https://youtu.be/5eaPjvhXxP8
Big Chief Juan Pardo & The Golden
Comanche with Little Freddie King (left)
► Big Chief Juan Pardo & The Golden Comanche, Esplanade Studios, New Orleans, 2022 :
► Cha Wa, Kennedy Center Millennium Stage, Washington DC, 2022 : https://youtu.be/yh2xui9nma4
► Chief Adjuah, Aladdin Theater, Portland, OR, 2022 : https://youtu.be/Im6zXB8szbs
Chief Adjuah and his "Adjuah Bow"
► Chief Adjuah, JazzFest, Brno, Czech Republic, 2022 : https://youtu.be/U0pYnprX-LY
► The Rumble, The Funky Uncle, New Orleans, 2022 : https://youtu.be/Ug7ms5f6J_s?t=232
► Chief Adjuah, Blue Note Jazz Festival, Napa Valley, CA, 2022 : https://youtu.be/28eJthj5AUk
► Big Chief Donald Harrison Jr Quartet, Birdland, NYC, 2023 : https://youtu.be/n08ZLEUE78k
► “Sunrise in Beijing”, Chief Adjuah, New York City. 2023 : https://youtu.be/iZZBJcxkr9g
► Flagboy Giz feat. DJ Mannie Fresh, Congo Square Rhythms Festival, New Orleans, 2023 : https://youtu.be/aVu429NBsP8


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