Littdell “Bee” Banister is the oldest big queen among New Orleans’ Black Masking Indian tribes. The 90-year-old has been masking for 50 years for the Creole Wild West tribe.
“I don’t plan on stopping until my casket drops,” she said.
Banister and four other big queens were honored during a New Orleans City Council meeting Thursday (Feb. 27) for their lifelong commitment to carrying on the Black Masking Indian tradition.
Matriarchs of their tribes, each of the five queens honored has been masking for decades — the longest, Queen Rita Johnson of the Mohawk Hunters, has been masking for 70 years. The five women have a combined 237 years of masking between them.
“Now that I’m 90 years old, it means so much to me to get my flowers while I can still smell them,” Banister said.
City Council Vice President JP Morrell spoke on their historical contributions to New Orleans over the years.
He recalled how after Hurricane Katrina, queens led the charge to ensure New Orleans would return to the city it was before. And in 2021, they were at the forefront of protests against a proposal to move City Hall to the sacred grounds of Congo Square, he said.
“Everything that is great about the city of New Orleans is in front of us today,” Morrell said of the queens.
The growing presence of big queens
Queen Laurita Dollis has been masking for 35 years for the Wild Magnolia tribe. Despite being dubbed the “baby of the group” at Thursday’s council meeting, she said it feels like it’s been a lot longer than 35 years.
Dollis still remembers her first Mardi Gras masking. Onlookers cried, laughed, shouted and danced in response to seeing her dressed in all-white on the streets, she said.
Her plan going into it was to mask for only one year.
“And if I didn’t feel it that day, I probably would have just masked that one year. But once I felt it in my spirit, then I went these 30-plus years,” Dollis told Verite News.
In becoming a queen, Dollis stepped into a leadership role within the tribe. People began looking to her as a leader and sought her out for guidance. It was important to her that this was accurately represented to the public, she said.
When she first began, Dollis said queens were expected to walk behind the chief in their procession. That practice ended with her, when she decided to walk alongside her chief, her husband, Bo Dollis Sr., as equals.
Her son, Bo Dollis Jr., is the tribe’s chief today.
“The queens ought to be, if they’re not, playing a really big role in the game alongside that Chief, because you do this together,” she said.
In her early days, she said that there weren’t many women masking for tribes, and queens weren’t as visible as they later became. With the help of Dollis, queens of different tribes started forming a community..
Growing up in New Orleans, Dollis had a real fear of Black Masking Indians due to the violent reputation they once had. She said this reputation may have contributed to the lack of women masking in tribes.
Queen Wanda Womble, who’s been masking for 37 years for the Cheyenne tribe, had a similar experience growing up.
“When I was young, I was afraid of the Mardi Gras Indians,” Womble said.
She said her husband had been masking since he was a young boy. She slowly warmed up to the Indians as they got closer and eventually married. For years, she helped him sew his costume before deciding to try masking for herself.
“I’ve been in love with it ever since,” Womble said.
She’s been having health problems over the past few years. She said that certain injuries have made it a risk to wear a costume that’s so elaborate and heavy. But she’s determined to continue masking, even if she has to do it with a walker or a cane in hand: “I’m prepared,” Womble said.
That spirit of perseverance in the face of challenges is central to Black Masking Indians, and it’s why big chiefs and big queens are able to achieve such longevity.
“I cannot walk as far as I used to, but I can ride. And I’ll meet y’all on the street,” Banister said.
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