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,...

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