Northside skull and bones gang series#

In the concluding video of the series, Barnes discusses how Black masking traditions have changed as the neighborhoods where they are practiced undergo gentrification. “No matter what’s on the street, when they see skeletons coming, they either love it-they run to it-or they run from it, because it’s sort of like looking in the mirror,” he says. In the second installment, Barnes walks the viewer through the components of a suit, describing materials used in its creation and their origins.

In the first video, Barnes traces the gang’s history to the early 19th century and explains the spiritual underpinnings of the practice.

Northside skull and bones gang series#

Displayed with a suit is a series of videos that explain the history of the gang, detail the making of the suit, and explore the changing nature of the historic Tremé neighborhood, the setting for the gang’s Fat Tuesday route. Starting before dawn, they don skeleton suits, butcher aprons, and papier-mâché skulls to walk the streets of Tremé (a local neighborhood adjacent to the French Quarter), wielding bloody bones and rousing their neighbors with calls of “You next!”īruce Sunpie Barnes, Big Chief of the North Side Skull and Bone Gang, created a suit for the exhibition Making Mardi Gras, currently on view on an extended summertime run through August 7, 2022, at The Historic New Orleans Collection. For two centuries, the North Side Skull and Bone Gang has signaled the start of Mardi Gras Day, waking the spirits and serving as a reminder to live well before death. Skeletons are part of the transatlantic culture of the African diaspora, with representations in West African rituals, Caribbean Vodou practices, and Latin American Day of the Dead celebrations. In addition to Mardi Gras Indians, Baby Dolls, and the North Side Skull and Bone Gang carry on the traditions of Black masking in the neighborhoods of New Orleans.

Today, we are happy to report, that Bruce became Big Chief and was able to resurrect the Northside Skull & Bone Gang in New Orleans, where they enjoy a resurgence in membership and popularity.Black masking traditions are often about honoring ancestors, reclaiming power in a world of oppression, and creating beautiful expressions of joy, grief, and strength. It was a safeguard measure.Īs an homage to the Original, enlisting the help of ex-pats from New Orleans in Portland, who were either in the culture or who had relatives that were in the culture, The Northwest Bone Gang was born and continues to grow after 14 years under the guidance of Big Chief Chuk Barber. His fear was that this part of the Black Mardi Gras Indian culture would disappear or become extinct. Not sure if the gang would resurge and return to New Orleans, Chuk kept the tradition going here by himself at first and then started an auxiliary chapter here just in case it didn’t. Joe’s Day, sadly in 2005 there were only 3 members left: Big Chief Al Morris, Bruce “Sunpie” Barnes as Second Chief, Flagboy Chuk!Īfter Hurricane Katrina, Flagboy Chuk moved to Portland, Second Chief Bruce evacuated to Arkansas and Big Chief Al Morris past away. After decades of dozens and dozens of Skull & Bone Gang Members, who masked with the gang every Mardi Gras and St. The Northwest Bone Gang was started in 2005 in Portland by Chuk Barber, who was originally the Flagboy in the Northside Skull and Bone Gang, Black Mardi Gras Indians from New Orleans.