The Black Masking Mardi Gras Indians of New Orleans are one of the city's most photogenic cultural traditions. Their eye-catching garments, with color-saturated plumes, feathers, and intricate beadwork, are featured on magnets, postcards, and prints for sale in souvenir shops. Photographers search for Black Indians on the streets of the city on Mardi Gras morning and again on St. Joseph's night. They jockey for space to grab snapshots at Super Sundays, public gatherings when Black Indian “tribes” perform their signature chants, customary choreographed greetings, and dance battles. But few outside the community appreciate the intricate web of relationships within a tribe, are privy to their history, or have witnessed the creation of a full mask, called a “suit.” Fire in the Hole: The Spirit Work of Fi Yi Yi and the Mandingo Warriors, offers readers the story of one tribe—Fi Yi Yi1—via the voices of its members,...
Fire in the Hole: The Spirit Work of Fi Yi Yi and the Mandingo Warriors edited by Rachel Breunlin
Grete Viddal received her PhD from the Department of African and African American Studies and her MA from the Department of Anthropology at Harvard University. She holds the Zemurray-Stone Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Stone Center for Latin America at Tulane University. Her book in progress, Vodú Chic: Cuba's Haitian Heritage, the Folkloric Imaginary, and the State, explores how folkloric performance groups, religious practitioners, government programs, academic institutes, and transnational contacts interface with community identity. Her research interests include Afro-Atlantic religion and performance, heritage festivals, the interface of tourism and the arts, and storytelling. [email protected]
Grete Viddal received her PhD from the Department of African and African American Studies and her MA from the Department of Anthropology at Harvard University. She holds the Zemurray-Stone Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Stone Center for Latin America at Tulane University. Her book in progress, Vodú Chic: Cuba's Haitian Heritage, the Folkloric Imaginary, and the State, explores how folkloric performance groups, religious practitioners, government programs, academic institutes, and transnational contacts interface with community identity. Her research interests include Afro-Atlantic religion and performance, heritage festivals, the interface of tourism and the arts, and storytelling. [email protected]
Grete Viddal; Fire in the Hole: The Spirit Work of Fi Yi Yi and the Mandingo Warriors edited by Rachel Breunlin. African Arts 2020; 53 (1): 95–96. doi: https://doi.org/10.1162/afar_r_00522
Download citation file:
Sign in
Client Account
Sign in via your Institution
Sign in via your InstitutionEmail alerts
Advertisement