Big Chief Bo Dollis on Mardi Gras Indian Dancing 

In this clip from a 1983 interview of Theodore Emile “Bo” Dollis (1944-2015), Big Chief of the Wild Magnolias, the chief describes changes in the traditions of Mardi Gras Indians and the dancing culture.
Film footage by Jules Cahn (1916-1995), a filmmaker and photographer whose work documented and promoted the arts and culture of New Orleans, provides the backdrop for Dollis’s commentary. Cahn photographed and filmed second line parades and Mardi Gras Indians and was a proponent of local artists, such as folk painter Sister Gertrude Morgan. Cahn’s film and photography collection was donated to The Historic New Orleans Collection by his family and is one of the most popular archives for visual materials related to New Orleans culture.
This video was originally featured in THNOC’s award-winning 2022 exhibition Making Mardi Gras.
💜 💚 💛 More MARDI GRAS from THNOC 💜 💚 💛
🎥"Black Indians of New Orleans" in Paris: • "Black Indians from Ne...
🎨 The Breadth of Carnival Artistry in Nine Photographs: www.hnoc.org/p...
📚 🔍 FURTHER READING and RESOURCES
📓How to Preserve Black Masking Indian Suits: www.hnoc.org/p...
© The Historic New Orleans Collection 2023
All rights reserved. No part of this video may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means whatsoever without express written permission from The Historic New Orleans Collection.