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Film Screening and Panel Discussion: The Black Indians of New Orleans
Wed, January 24th at 6:00 PM
Join us on Wednesday, January 24, in NOMA’s Lapis Center for the Arts for a screening of The Black Indians of New Orleans, directed by Dr. Maurice Martinez. Following a sold-out program on January 7, the museum looks forward to presenting an encore screening of this important film.
A panel discussion follows the documentary. Panelists are Big Chief Darryl Montana, Bruce Sunpie Barnes, and Kamau Wesley Phillips.
This program is free and open to the public. Admission and seating are first come, first served. No registration is required. When you arrive at the museum, check-in at the admissions desk.
This program is organized by Creative Assembly Cohort member Diane Honoré, who is Big Queen of the Yellow Pocahontas.
About the Film
The Black Indians of New Orleans (1976, dir. Maurice M. Martinez, 33 min.)
The Black Indians of New Orleans is the first internationally acclaimed film to explore the origins and rituals of the Black Masking Indians of New Orleans. The film documents the cultural history of the Black Masking Indians, their artful suit creation, music, call and response chants, dance movements, and gatherings for Sunday practices. The film includes sunrise-to-sunset coverage of the Black Indians in their suits on Mardi Gras in the 1970s. The film was produced by Dr. Maurice M. Martinez, a New Orleans–born poet, photographer, musician, filmmaker, and scholar steeped in African American culture through both his heritage and academic endeavors.
ABOUT THE PANELISTS
Big Chief Darryl Montana
Big Chief Darryl Montana celebrated his 50th year masking as a Black Masking Indian at Mardi Gras 2023. His Seventh Ward Creole family has masked for several generations, beginning in the late 1800s with his great-great uncle “Becate” Baptiste Eugene of the first known tribe, the Creole Wild West. Darryl’s father, Big Chief Allison “Tootie” Montana (1922–2005), was known as the “Chief of Chiefs” and remains a legend within the Black Masking Indian community.
Darryl Montana’s intricate designs and superb beading work have earned him widespread recognition. He received the Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters and Sculptors Grant in 2012 and a United States Artist Fellowship in 2015. He has exhibited around the world, including at SITE Santa Fe’s Fourth International Biennial, Beau Monde: Toward a Redeemed Cosmopolitanism, and at Reg Vardy Gallery at the University of Sunderland in England. Recently, the Musée du Quai Branly-Jacques Chirac in Paris acquired Montana’s 2015 suit for its collection and featured it in the exhibition Black Indians de la Nouvelle-Orléans.
Montana passes along the tradition of Black Masking Indians and his artistry through various classes. He has taught children in workshops and summer programs through Xavier University of Louisiana’s Community Arts Program; and since 2019, he has conducted a series of older adult beading classes at the Louisiana State Museum. Darryl was recognized this year by the Louisiana Folklife Commission as a tradition bearer for carrying on the Black Masking Indian tradition for over 50 years.
Bruce Sunpie Barnes—Bruce Sunpie Barnes
Is a veteran musician, park ranger, actor, former high school biology teacher, former college football All-American, and former NFL player for the Kansas City Chiefs. Barnes’s career has taken him far and wide and he has traveled to over 35 countries playing his own style of blues, zydeco, and Afro-Louisiana music incorporating Caribbean and African-influenced rhythms and melodies. He is a multi-instrumentalist playing piano, percussion, harmonica, and he learned to play accordion from some of the best, including Fernest Arceneaux, John Delafose, and Clayton Sampy. With his musical group Sunpie and the Louisiana Sunspots, he has played festivals and concerts internationally, and has recorded critically acclaimed CDs. Barnes is deeply involved in New Orleans parade culture and takes his music to the streets. He is Second Chief of the North Side Skull and Bone Gang, one of the oldest existing carnival groups in New Orleans and a member of the Black Men of Labor Social Aid and Pleasure Club.
Kamau Wesley Phillips—KAMAU & Spirit of the Drums
A highly regarded drummer and educator, Kamau Wesley Phillips regularly teaches about African rhythms, the musical connections between New Orleans and western African, and the joy of playing drums. He masks Black Indian and plays drums forthe Spirit of FiYaYa and the Mandingo Warriors for several decades.