Kevin Cooley, the future Big Chief of the Guardians of the Flame Mardi Gras Indians, holds the beadwork that will be sewn into his costume. Traditions passed down from elders such as Cherice Harrison-Nelson, Big Queen of the group, will be the focus of the Guardians Institute. (Photo by David Rae Morris)

Before Katrina, an institute that would preserve New Orleans' African-American culture and educate the younger generations about traditions passed down from their elders was a dream in the mind of Herreast Harrison, a New Orleans educator whose home was extensively damaged in the storm. Now, after losing many of the Mardi Gras Indian suits, beads and beadwork -- a part of her late husband's Mardi Gras Indian tradition -- to the flood waters, Herreast Harrison wants more than ever to see this dream become a reality.

The Guardians Institute was conceived by the late Big Chief Donald Harrison Sr. along with his wife, Herreast J. Harrison. The institute was formally established in 2006 to promote literacy and positively perpetuate community-based cultural arts traditions.

For the past four months, Newcomb College Center for Research on Women and the Newcomb College Institute, through the Newcomb Neighbors project, have been trying to help with publicity and contacts so Harrison can construct a building for the Guardians Institute.

"I don't believe, in a post-Katrina world, that anyone has a right to live in New Orleans without being actively involved in rebuilding," says Rebecca Mark, executive interim director of the Newcomb College Institute. "It's very good for our young women to be involved in community outreach and engagement. As cultural leaders in our community, Herreast Harrison and her daughter, Cherice Harrison-Nelson, are amazing role models for our students. We intend for Newcomb Neighbors to be model projects for change in New Orleans."

Dedication of the Guardians Institute, arranged by Herreast Harrison, Cherice Harrison-Nelson and the Newcomb College Institute with Ausettua Amor Amenkum, Bessie Smith and Al Kennedy, was the culmination of a four-day conference hosted by the Newcomb College Institute titled "Educating Women for a World in Crisis." The institute's inaugural summit brought together a myriad of internationally renowned speakers from the Netherlands, England and South Africa to examine how higher education can better prepare women for a world where crisis is a daily global reality. Students from Barnard, Mississippi University for Women, Dillard University, Xavier University, Duke University and Texas Women's University gathered with scholars, administrators, staff and community activists for four days focused on greater awareness of the role of gender in crisis.

(Left to right) Herreast Harrison, Ausettua Amor Amenkum and Rebecca Mark lead an assembled group in blessing the site where they hope to build the Guardians Institute community center. Amenkum is an adjunct faculty member in the Newcomb Department of Theatre and Dance at Tulane and Mark is interim executive director of the Newcomb College Institute. (Photo by David Rae Morris)

Guardians Institute and Newcomb College Institute wanted to make sure that people were aware of the richness of New Orleans' indigenous culture, Mark says. On Sunday (Feb. 11), a ribbon-cutting for the Guardians Institute put into focus the message of renewal following crisis.

One of the many local traditions the Guardians Institute seeks to preserve is the Mardi Gras Indian culture, unique to the Crescent City. The Mardi Gras Indians are neighborhood social clubs that began to spring from black working-class groups more than a century ago. Before Hurricane Katrina, about 15 groups paraded on Mardi Gras Day, chanting, singing and beating percussion instruments. They costume in elaborate, handmade outfits that fancifully recall the dress of Native Americans, complete with feathers, ornate beadwork and enormous headdresses. The origins of this tradition are a mysterious blend of African, Creole, Indian and Spanish roots, and the meanings of the Indians' chants are difficult to trace. Some have traced the identification of New Orleans' black community with Native Americans back to the times of slavery, when Native Americans helped slaves in the quest for freedom.

Herreast Harrison is widow of the late Donald Eldridge Harrison Sr., Big Chief of the Guardians of the Flame Mardi Gras Indians, which he founded in 1988. Donald Harrison was a former Big Chief of the Creole Wild West, the Cherokee Braves and the White Eagles before he organized the Guardians of the Flame. His love for the Mardi Gras Indians began when he was 4 years old, and as Donald Harrison grew, he attended practices and absorbed the stories from the older Indians. He started beading patches for Indian suits at the age of 12, and made his first appearance as an Indian on Carnival Day in 1949. As he took the Mardi Gras Indian tradition around the world, Harrison lectured at places like Yale University. But the place he wanted to be most was the corner of St. Philip and North Robertson, leading his tribe on Mardi Gras Day. Today, his daughter, Cherice Harrison-Nelson, continues the family's involvement in the Guardians of the Flame, along with her brother, Donald Harrison Jr., and a third generation of the Harrison family.

At the dedication ceremony for the fledging Guardians Institute, the assembled group gathered on a lot in the Upper 9th Ward owned by the Harrison family where they hope to find funding to build a community center. The group was led in prayer by Ausettua Amor Amenkum, director of the New Orleans-based Kumbuka African Dance and Drum Collective, which is dedicated to the preservation and presentation of the traditional African culture expressed through dance, drum and song. An adjunct faculty member of the Newcomb Department of Theatre and Dance at Tulane since 1993, Amenkum has traveled throughout the United States, Jamaica and West Africa studying African and African-American history, music, dance, religion and folklore.

"It was the last circle of our memorable first summit," Mark says. "In demonstration of our unity, the Newcomb College Institute presented to the Guardians Institute an oak tree (symbol of Newcomb College Institute) and a Japanese magnolia (a tree that Donald Harrison had planted on their property, that was lost in the storm)."