GOAT CARSON

The 60-second Interview: Special Edition
Sunday, May 01, 2005
Chris Rose

When he showed up in town back in 1994, Goat Carson was a bit of a cultural curiosity, a wandering Cherokee with a portfolio of crazy old stories about travels with Kinky Friedman, the Bob Dylan tour, National Lampoon -- whatever the fringe was, he was likely hanging on to its outer edges.

He set up shop cooking barbecue on Sunday afternoons at Snake & Jake's Christmas Lounge, joined the music community and is now just another intricate weave in the fabulously eclectic tapestry that is the New Orleans music scene.

Goat is one of the Native American elements combining with the Mardi Gras Indians -- featuring Monk Boudreaux -- in an event today called Red, Black & Blue, at 4:45 p.m. at the Jazz and Heritage Stage.

Maybe that sounds stodgy and preachy to you. Trust me: It's funk. It will be most interesting. For a video version of this interview -- and a musical performance by the artist -- go to CLICK HERE

What is Red, Black & Blue?

This is a continuation of the very first circle that I did in 1994, where we brought the ghost dancers from the Lakotas and Choctaws and the Mardi Gras Indians together. This has been an 11-year effort and now we've got it merged into an existing, ongoing musical group.

In a recent letter to the editor in this paper, a local Native American suggested that he is insulted by the behavior of Mardi Gras Indians. That it is a mockery of culture. I take it you don't buy into that?

No. Strong Buffalo, the Lakota guy in Red, Black & Blue -- and the chief headman of his people -- has written a letter in response that says: Hey Joe, we appreciate that you love your culture, but you have to understand: If you look into these people's roots, they got your culture, too. And it's time we all come together.

What's the biggest similarity between Native Americans and the Mardi Gras Indians?

The commitment to the spirit. When we do a dance, it's the Spirit Dance. When these guys get in their costumes, it's after days and days of no sleep, sewing the entire time. Then they put on something that weighs about a hundred pounds and they dance all day long. This has been likened to sun dance rituals, ghost dance rituals, because that's what you do: You take yourself out, you deny yourself until the spirit is the only thing keeping you going.

What's the biggest difference between the two?

The connection to the Earth kind of got split way back along the way. This is an urban culture as opposed to a culture from the wasteland. Also, as an African culture, they're going to do things like drink and carry on because that's part of that culture. African cultures have always had some kind of fermented-in-alcohol drink. For them, it's not disrespectful.

I thought one of the rules of Jazzfest was that you had to drink alcohol.

No, that's a New Orleans rule: "We don't trust anybody who don't drink!"

At Jazzfest, there's plenty of sunblock to block out the sun. What other kind of "block" do we need?

Phone block.

What song lyrics does George Bush need to sit and listen to?

I've got a song called "Redskins" that I released on the Internet back in 1999; he needs to listen to that.

What is the message in "Redskins?"

That the United States got what it got through an atrocious genocide that was almost Hannibal Lectorish, in that we used to skin the Indians and sell 'em back East because they were quite the novelty. You really need to look into what happened here, because when you do, then you've got a whole different understanding -- and maybe a little bit more humility. The whole world knows this and we don't. We need the moral high ground in what we're dealing with in this day and age and that comes not from pride, but through humility.

If you died and were buried at Jazzfest, where would it be?

Under the First Aid tent. Just roll me off the litter and start digging.

What would your tombstone say?

Get better.

Columnist Chris Rose can be reached at Chris Rose or at (504) 352-2535 or (504) 826-3309. Or you can leave a comment any time on the Chris Rose forum at Comments on Chris Rose Forum