News Roundup

Eighth Annual Mardi Gras Indian Hall of Fame Induction and Awards Ceremony

Backstreet Cultural Museum
1116 St. Claude Ave.
Sunday, August 13, 2006, 4-5 p.m.

The Eighth Annual Mardi Gras Indian Hall of Fame Induction and Awards Ceremony will be held Sunday, August 13, 2006, from 4 to 5 p.m., at the Backstreet Cultural Museum, 1116 St. Claude Ave.

According to Cherice Harrison-Nelson, the organizer of the annual awards ceremony, representatives from area New Orleans Mardi Gras Indian gangs have been invited to participate. In addition to performances by the Indian gangs, the program will feature the presentation of awards to Mardi Gras Indians and community leaders who have supported the Mardi Gras Indian tradition.

The program, which originated at Oretha Castle Haley Elementary in 1999, had to relocate this year due to extensive damage to the school by Hurricane Katrina. A connection to the founding school continues through the presentation of the Haley School Award.

2006 Hall of Fame Honorees Crystal Feather Awards

Haley School Award:
Big Chief Cyril “Ironhorse” Green, Black Seminoles

Mardi Gras Indian Nation Spirit Award:
Jaime “Wildman Loco” Cooper, White Eagles

Queens’ Choice Award:
Big Queen Rita Johnson, Mohawk Hunters

Chiefs’ Choice Award ? TBA

Other Awards

Capturing the Flash Photographers’ Award:
Sylvester Francis (selected by previous recipients to honor Sylvester’s 25th year as a community-based photographer and documentarian)

Community Support Award:
New Orleans Musicians’ Clinic (selected for providing affordable health services to community-based artists)

Cultural Preservationist:
Tulane University - Committee for Cultural Heritage (selected for actively working to secure financial relief from various funding sources for Mardi Gras Indians, social-and-pleasure-club members, and musicians)

Blue Eagle Award:
Dr. Donald Devore (selected as outstanding local historian and university administrator whose programs provide training in the preservation of Mardi Gras Indian culture and artifacts)

Mr. Albert Morris, Chief of the North Side Skull & Bone Gang, will also be an honoree at the 8th Annual Mardi Gras Indian Hall of Fame Induction and Awards Ceremony. Mr. Morris has kept alive a very important Carnival tradition, and he has worked tirelessly to pass it on to the next generation.

For more information, contact Cherice Harrison-Nelson, 504-214-6630.

This event is sponsored in part by: New Orleans Musicians? Clinic; Basin Street Station; Tipitina?s, Foundation; Guardians Institute; New Orleans Musicians? Hurricane Relief Fund; People?s Hurricane Relief Fund; Tulane University Committee for New Orleans Cultural Heritage; University of New Orleans - Anthropology Department; Unified
Nonprofits of Greater New Orleans; Big Queen Management; Backstreet Cultural Museum; and Crescent City Peace Alliance.

The Haley Mardi Gras Indian Hall of Fame, which began in 1999, is an
extension of the in-school curriculum developed by Haley faculty
member Cherice Harrison-Nelson, Queen of the Guardians of the Flame Mardi Gras Indians. She established a program to teach Haley students to appreciate their Mardi Gras Indian culture and to learn from the traditions of the New Orleans Mardi Gras Indians. Haley former principal Dr. Roslyn J. Smith, who developed the idea of the ceremony, said that “the Big Chiefs are community leaders, and in many ways
they are social warriors, struggling to preserve traditions of beauty in the community while working to make the communities better places.”

The annual Mardi Gras Indian Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony is dedicated to the memory of Big Chief Donald Harrison, Sr. He inspired the ceremony through his efforts to share his lessons on life with the students of Haley School. He taught the faculty the importance of respecting and honoring one another. We are grateful to every Mardi Gras Indian group and all of the Mardi Gras Indians who have helped keep our children’s spirits soaring.