NEW ORLEANS ( WGNO ) — Mardi Gras Indian culture runs deep, and not all the tribe members are men! WGNO’s Stephanie Oswald had the pleasure and honor to spend time with the Big Queen of the 8th Ward Black Seminole tribe, Angel Chung Cutno.
Chung Cutno was working on her third suit, with about 10 days to go before Mardi Gras 2024.
She brought our crew to a secret location where her second suit is on display and revealed a few beautiful sections of her very first suit. The theme of the first suit was Birds; the theme of her second suit was Powerful Black Women.
“So, we’re seeing Black women of the past, present and future, and we have Angela Davis and she’s actually on a black beret, and then, Queen Nefertiti,” she explained.
Her tribe is very small, just three people: “So, we have our chief and we have a wild man, and we have me, the Queen.”
“When I’m in my suit, women get very excited to see me, and I love that, I love to empower women,” says Chung Cutno.