Cherice Harrison-Nelson on her Mardi Gras Indian Suits and Family Traditions
As founder and director of the Guardians Institute, Harrison-Nelson has facilitated hundreds of panels, public installations and interactive workshops educating the community about the arts and culture of the Mardi Gras Indians.
Mardi Gras Indians are an integral part of New Orleans’ diverse melting pot of rich heritages and traditions. In this interview, Cherice Harrison-Nelson shares the story behind the culture of the Mardi Gras Indians, explaining its origins, practices, and the symbolism of the spectacular suits and works of art for which the community is known.
"As an African born in America without a clear pathway back to my ancestral homeland, the narrative attire and original visual-art creative expressions of my West African ancestry serve to reconnect me, one bead and one stitch at a time. Beading is a laborious obsession. The process and the content of my creations guide my life.”
“If you take care of your health, then you can do all the things that enhance your life that we need to do as humans to to survive. It’s just about loving yourself, and loving yourself the most,” says Cherice .
Herreast Harrison, a distinguished matriarch, artist, educator, actress and voice of New Orleans culture, shares this year’s New Orleans JJA Jazz Hero honors with her daughter Cherice Harrison-Nelson, whose career as a memory artist embodies the values passed down by her mother and her father, Big Chief Donald Harrison, Sr. (1933-1998), as well.
“My dad always said, ‘You can’t create a suit just to be pretty, you must address social issues,’” Harrison-Nelson explains. “As an artist, you are obligated to get people to think about being agents of change.”
Cherice Harrison-Nelson grew up in a high-minded family of readers. Her mother Herreast ran nursery schools. Her father Donald Harrison was a veteran and postal worker, interested in philosophy and art. He grew up in the Mardi Gras Indian tradition of honoring Native American culture by local African American carnival tribes. The Harrisons have long been concerned about social justice. Queen Reesie is known for teaching history and culture and starting a Mardi Gras Indian Hall of fame. She has studied in West Africa and spoke of her spiritual quest while sewing this year’s Mardi Gras Indian suit.
Queens Rule! XIII, the 13th in a series of events celebrating the "Queens" of the Mardi Gras/Black Masking Indian groups of New Orleans catalog / exhibition presented by the Mardi Gras Indian Hall of Fame & the Donald Harrison, Sr. Museum ; catalog editors: Jeffrey David Ehrenreich, Herreast J. Harrison, Cherice Harrison-Nelson
During a day-long forum focusing on economic, environmental and political issues, Mayor Mitch Landrieu spoke about recovery efforts in New Orleans and said that the federal government should look to New Orleans as a model of innovation for the country. Following his interview, panelists spoke about the mutual influence that culture and politics had on one another. They responded to questions from the audience.