LSU G&A Research Highlights

Dr. Patrick Hesp, Ms. Amanda Evans (Ph.D. student), Dr. Graziela Miot da Silva (Geologist and Oceanographer Nicholls State University) and Dr. Barry Keim have been awarded $344,000 from the Department of the Interior, Minerals Management Service (MMS) for a project entitled Examining and Testing Potential Prehistoric Archaeological Features on the Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Continental Shelf.

Earliest known human habitation in the New World coincides with periods of lower sea-level, and it is likely that humans lived on exposed portions of the outer continental shelf that are now submerged beneath the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. A great deal of research has been conducted on historic shipwrecks in the Gulf of Mexico, but far less work has been conducted on now submerged prehistoric sites which have the potential to provide a great deal of information regarding the earliest exploration and subsequent settlement of the Western Hemisphere. It is critically important to find, explore, preserve and protect these sites.

Remote sensing surveys have identified high probability areas in the Gulf with the potential to be prehistoric sites. Three such areas have been selected for this study, with the added criteria of being shallow enough beneath the seafloor to enable future excavation. Although sites have been identified in the past as potential archaeological deposits, none of the possible prehistoric sites have been verified by the presence of material culture or artifacts.

This project will evaluate whether previously identified “sites” actually represent preserved prehistoric archaeological deposits by conducting a series of high resolution marine geophysical surveys, collecting sediment cores, and carrying out detailed geomorphological and sedimentological analyses. As part of the study the researchers also hope to determine the degree of past and future disturbance to the sites by storms and hurricanes and will carry out seafloor mapping, set up a monitoring system at the sites, and conduct an analyses of long term climatological and oceanographic records. The project will also ultimately contribute to a better methodology for identifying prehistoric sites on the Gulf of Mexico offshore continental shelf. Updated on 09/14/07

The American Geographical Society has named Craig E. Colten of Louisiana State University as editor for the Geographical Review. Dr. Colten will edit volumes 97-99, i.e., those for years 2007-2009. He is the Carl O. Sauer Professor of Geography. For the past six years he has co-edited Historical Geography. His most recent book, An Unnatural Metropolis: Wresting New Orleans from Nature, won the J. B. Jackson Prize for 2005.

Three other members of the LSU faculty will serve on the editorial team: Dydia DeLyser and Andrew Sluyter as associate editors and Kent Mathewson as book review editor. The new editor is accepting manuscripts now, at LSU’s Department of Geography & Anthropology, 227 Howe-Russell, Baton Rouge, LA 70803-4105 and at greditor@lsu.edu. Outgoing editors, Douglas Johnson and Viola Haarmann will complete volumes 95 and 96 and correspondence pertaining to those should continue to go to them. –Deborah E. Popper, Chair, GR Search Committee

LSU PROFESSORS's RESEARCH on the N.O. MARDI GRAS INDIANS SHOWCASED IN SMITHSONIAN MUSEUM EXHIBITION

For more than 12 years, Louisiana State University Associate Professor of Geography & Anthropology Joyce Marie Jackson has studied the unique folk ritual of the New Orleans Black Mardi Gras Indians, while her husband, Baton Rouge-based documentary photographer J. Nash Porter, has chronicled this group in photographs for 35 years.

Now, due to the diaspora caused by Hurricane Katrina, the West African- and Caribbean-inspired tradition indigenous to New Orleans is endangered. Last year, nearly 30 tribes in New Orleans practiced the legacy of elaborately costuming and parading on foot throughout the city's Uptown and Downtown wards and other
neighborhoods during Mardi Gras and on other special days of the year. This year, only half of the tribes paraded for Mardi Gras and not all of them "suited up," Jackson said.

However, Jackson and Porter hope that an exhibit they currently have on display at the Smithsonian Institute's Anacostia Museum & Center for African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., will enlighten a national audience about this century-old tradition.

"The New Orleans Black Mardi Gras Indians: Exploring a Community Tradition from an Insider's View" exhibit is now on display through Aug. 27 at the Smithsonian. The core of the exhibit is based on Porter's 60 color images chronicling the Black Indian tradition. Jackson wrote the narrative script for the exhibit, which is based
on her years of ethnographic and historical research on this cultural tradition. The exhibit also includes four traditional Mardi Gras Indian costumes, two of which are from the Anacostia Museum's The Collection of Herreast J. Harrison and Family.Another suit is that of a child's costume, made for 6-year old Lil' Squaw Diamond Clay of the Creole Wild West by her uncle Irvin "Honey" Bannister, Gang flag of the tribe. The suit was retrieved from the mud after Hurricane Katrina. Chief Derrick Hulin of the Golden Blades tribe also loaned one of his suits for the exhibit.

Other features of the exhibit include two video clips. The first clip is from WDSU-TV New Orleans footage of the March 2, 2006, "Remembering Big Chief Tootie Montana ." The clip pays tribute to recently departed Big Chief Allison "Tootie" Montana of the Yellow Pocahontas. He was the last Chief of the Chiefs of the Mardi Gras Indians and was an advocate for the rights of the Mardi Gras Indians.

The second is from the National Black Programming Consortium, "Mardi Gras 2006: Walking to New Orleans." It is a 6-minute compilation by Royce Osborn, the 2003 Louisiana Filmmaker Award-winning producer of "All on a Mardi Gras Day," featuring the masking traditions of Mardi Gras Indians in 2003. The 2006 footage is part of an ongoing Webcast series about the rebuilding of New Orleans after Katrina through the eyes of the underrepresented. Information on the NBPC piece can be found on the Web at www.nbpc.tv/webcasts/katrina.

"The exhibition is more than visual images that express the aesthetic and creative eye of the photographer, the images also showcase many wonderful unsung New Orleans artists," Porter said.

"The exhibition is also about families, intergenerational traditions, resistance street theater and community," Jackson added.

The couple said that in light of the many post-Katrina negative images of New Orleans, they hope their exhibition will leave visitors with positive impressions of New Orleans ' people and culture.

In concert with the exhibition, the museum is offering a variety of public programs. For more information on the programs, visit the museum's Web site,http://anacostia.si.edu/.

For more information about the New Orleans Black Mardi Gras Indians and the Smithsonian exhibit, contact Jackson at 225-578-5942 or jjackso@lsu.edu.Updated on 05/05/06

ANCIENT MAYA RESEARCH PUBLISHED
Dr. Heather McKillop's latest research on the ancient Maya was just released in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Several news articles have also been written on her most recent discoveries. View the official University press release by clicking here.