
In her article “Assemblage and Inheritance,” Kristina Kay Robinson discusses Queen Cherice Harrison-Nelson’s group of Mardi Gras Indians, the Guardians of the Flame, a “contemporary maroon society” based in New Orleans. Harrison-Nelson designs and constructs her own narrative Mardi Gras suits, and is the third of five generations in her family to participate in the local masking tradition. Below, Harrison-Nelson talks in detail about some of her more meaningful designs and shares behind-the-scenes photos of her suit-making process. “I don’t mask,” explains Harrison-Nelson. “I unmask. I reveal who I am. I can’t cover that up.”