Folklife Award Nominee: Creole Wild West
As the oldest Mardi Gras Indian tribe in the City, the Creole Wild West promotes and preserves the
Indian tradition through public performance, educational activities, and acts as a steward of the Mardi
Gras Indian culture of New Orleans.
The Creole Wild West has roots in the late 19th Century, where traditionally groups of African American
males would "mask Indian" on Mardi Gras Day, St. Joseph's Night and Super Sunday, parading through
their neighborhoods in hand made suits featuring sequins, feathers, and bead work. The Indian culture is
central to the preservation of the uniqueness of New Orleans. Indian culture has always been tied to
family and neighborhoods, but as these ties have broken down, practitioners such as the Creole Wild
West are making a preemptive effort to preserve and perpetuate this tradition in a larger scale to
ensure the tradition remains strong.
What makes the Creole Wild West so special is their dedication to arts education and making sure this
Louisiana tradition continues. On forty Saturdays a year, members of the Creole Wild West and other
Mardi Gras Indian tribes from many of our City's dynamic neighborhoods convene sessions targeting
children age 4-12 to expose them to the Indian tradition and teach them the skills necessary to create
their own suits. The Indian Chiefs and other Indian leaders pass on the oral traditions that explain the
meaning of Indian songs, chants, dances, and design motifs, going back to Congo Square. Teenage Mardi
Gras Indian children or "Scouts" ages 13-18 serve as mentors who can relate to the younger children,
filling a role almost like that of a camp counselor. This project is led by Chief Howard Miller, who, seeing
the need, launched the project in 2010 using his own personal funds. Since then, the Creole Wild West
have secured funding from the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation and the Arts Council of New
Orleans.
You can find the Creole Wild West parading through New Orleans’ Central City on Mardi Gras Day and St
Joseph’s night, as well as annually at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, but they also have
appeared in full regalia in the Louisiana State Capitol to advocate for statewide arts funding, and
performed at numerous worldwide music festivals. Additionally, Mardi Gras Indian suits have been
featured in the Smithsonian, New Orleans Museum of Art, and the Louisiana State Museum.
Photographs of the Indian tradition are part of the permanent collection of Bibliotheque Nationale in
Paris. But far from the hallowed halls of museums, the Indians provide the City of New Orleans and all its
residents with immense pride and respect.
I hope you can join me in recognizing the great contributions the Creole Wild West make to the culture
of Louisiana.