Mary Kay comes from a royal heritage, the daughter of the first Queen to mask Indian, Queen Mercedes Stevenson. A suit is part of a long tradition, passed down from one generation to the next.  "Every Queen has her own style.  Sewing a suit is abut design and style, becau... Read more

  Whether reading to children, responding to an interview question, or creating art through her beadwork, Cherice Harrison-Nelson of the Guardians of the Flame never stops teaching or celebrating New Orleans' indigenous cultures. She is a teacher, institution builder, and a... Read more

  Wanda Womble earned the title of Big Queen in the Mardi Gras Indian culture due to her quick sewing skills, patience, commitment, and colorful suits. Big Queen Wanda has participated in Mardi Gras Indian culture for more than 25 years. Womble has endured hand surgery and ... Read more

  Big Queen Patrice's 7th Ward neighborhood family were mostly members of the Creole Osceola, led by Big Chief Clarence "Delco" Dalcour. Patrice began sewing at age 8, helping her sister make a suit. She joined the Creole Osceolas and demonstrated the seriousness of purpose... Read more

  Pauline "Queen Ree" Johnson has masked for 36 years. In 1977, her brother, David "Lightning" Johnson, who was flag boy for the Wild Magnolias, introduced her to "Lil Walter" Cook, Big Chief of the Creole Wild West gang. Queen Ree sewed her first suit and made her Mardi Gr... Read more

 Gina Montana, Big Queen of the Yellow Pocahontas, grew up in a family and community rich with unique culture and tradition.  Gina's passion to mask Indian arose in the 1990s. With the guiding hand of Big Chief Tootie Montana, her second cousin and "Chief of Chiefs," she le... Read more

 Ausettua Amor Amenkum was led by the quest for knowledge, interest in African retention in African-American cultural expressions, and social and cultural activism to participate in the Black Indian masking culture. She masked with Big Chief Donald Harrison Sr until his dea... Read more

 Laurita Barras Dollis, Big Queen of the Wild Magnolias Black Indian Tribe for over twenty years, is the widow of legendary Big Chief Bo Dollis.   Big Queen Laurita explains the process of making a suit: "You have to be focused, want it, love what you're doing from the hear... Read more

 Rita Johnson has masked as a Mardi Gras Indian Queen for 60 years. Johnson's participation in the Mardi Gras Indian culture is driven by her commitment to celebrate and continue the tradition and by her creativity, which she expresses through visual arts. Johnson began mas... Read more

 Tribal Queen Littdell “Queen Bee” Banister, the senior actively masking Queen, is dedicated to the Black Indian tradition. After starting her six-year-old son Honey on the Indian path, she joined the Creole Wild West. Together they have sewn and masked for the past forty-t... Read more