Mardi Gras Indians

Students will study Mardi Gras Indians as a cultural response of the African American community in New Orleans to the Jim Crow system of segregation.

OVERVIEW: This unit makes use of the free National Park Service double CD set Songs of the Lower Mississippi Delta, created by the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park (www.nps.gov/jazz) . The park, located in the French Quarter, interprets the origins, early history, and development of jazz music.  The CD is funded through a grant from the Lower Mississippi Delta Initiative (www.cr.nps.gov/delta), whose goals are to preserve the regions’ and natural resources and to enhance heritage tourism within the region. Please visit www.nps.gov for more information about the relevant parks.

The CD contains a total of 29 songs, many of which are used in lesson plans available elsewhere on this site.

CURRICULUM STANDARDS: From The History Standards Project, directed by the National Center for History in the Schools (NCHS). http://www.uni.edu/icss/standards.html   http://nchs.ucla.edu/

LANGUAGE ARTS: From the Common Core State Standards Initiative  http://www.corestandards.org/ . http://www.corestandards.org/the-standards

 

CURRICULUM STANDARD:

United States History

Behavioral Studies : Topic: Cultural diffusion, adaptation, and interaction

Standard 1.  Understands that group and cultural influences contribute to human development, identity, and behavior

Standard 2.  Understands various meanings of social group, general implications of group membership, and different ways that groups function

Level IV [Grade 9-12

Benchmark 4.

Understands that groups have patterns for preserving and transmitting culture even as they adapt to environmental and/or social change.

Knowledge/skill statements

1.Understands that groups have patterns for preserving culture even as they adapt to environmental change

2.Understands that groups have patterns for transmitting culture even as they adapt to environmental change

3.Understands that groups have patterns for preserving culture even as they adapt to social change

4.Understands that groups have patterns for transmitting culture even as they adapt to social change

 

Language Arts: from http://www.corestandards.org/the-standards/english-language-arts-standards/anchor-standards/college-and-career-readiness-anchor-standards-for-reading/

·         Key Ideas and Details

1.       Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.

 

·         Craft and Structure

4. Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone.

OBJECTIVES: The student will

1.       Learn basic information about the Mardi Gras Indian tradition of New Orleans.

2.       Make connections between the folk tradition of the Mardi Gras Indians and the idea of resistance to oppression.

3.       Come to appreciate the discipline required to produce the artistically created costumes worn by the Mardi Gras Indians.

MATERIALS NEEDED:

·         CD player or some other means of playing an audio CD.

·         Two CD set songs of the Lower Mississippi River Delta (provided free of charge by the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park, New Orleans, Louisiana)

·         Copies of lyrics to Indians, Here They Come, or some other means of sharing written lyrics with students.

·         Pencils or pens and blank lined paper.