The White Eagles/Black Indians of New Orleans

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Marilyn Nance, The White Eagles/Black Indians of New Orleans, 1980, gelatin silver print, sheet: 15 ⁷⁄₈ x 19 ⁷⁄₈ in. (40.4 x 50.4 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase made possible by the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment and the Smithsonian Institution Collections Acquisition Program, 1994.66.2, © 1980, Marilyn Nance

Artwork Details

Title: The White Eagles/Black Indians of New Orleans
Artist: Marilyn Nance
Date: 1980
Location: Not on view
Dimensions: sheet: 15 ⁷⁄₈ x 19 ⁷⁄₈ in. (40.4 x 50.4 cm.)
Copyright: © 1980, Marilyn Nance
Credit Line: Museum purchase made possible by the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment and the Smithsonian Institution Collections Acquisition Program
Mediums Description: gelatin silver print
Classifications: Photography
Photoprint
Subjects: Ceremony — festival — New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Fest.
Dress — costume — Indian costume
Cityscape — Louisiana — New Orleans
Performing arts — music
African American
Figure group — male
Object Number: 1994.66.2
Linked Open Data: https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1994.66.2

Artwork Description

Nance’s photography is about her spiritual realization that all African Americans are connected, in some way, to one another. In White Eagles/Black Indians of New Orleans, African Americans dress in costumes influenced by the ceremonial dress of Native Americans as part of Mardi-Gras, the annual pre-Lenten celebration in New Orleans. One theory suggests that this custom began as a tribute by African Americans to Native Americans for helping runaway slaves; another suggests that it is a way of celebrating similarities between two minority cultural groups.

African American Art: Harlem Renaissance, Civil Rights Era, and Beyond, 2012