The History of Detroit’s Infamous Omen, the Red Dwarf
The infamous red dwarf known as Nain Rouge has a been local legend for at least a century and some claim back to the time of Detroit’s founding. What is the history of this legend and its more recent surge in popularity with a local parade, 5k and beer bearing its name?
The Marche du Nain Rouge is a recent take on an old legend appearing within the history of Detroit. This ephemeral event has taken place for the last three years and was the focus of an ethnoarchaeological investigation. The role that I chose to take on for the exercise was as an active participant in the Marche, through joining in the parade. For this, I dressed in the Nain Rouge colors of red and black notebook and pen for note-writing and used my phone’s camera to document photographic evidence along the way. I chose to take on this role of an active participant because I thought it would be the best way to remain consistently close to the action, whilst still blending in so as not to draw much attention to myself as I documented the events.
For the most part, my archaeological approach follows Carolyn White’s (2013) work concerning the documentation of the Burning Man festival, most specifically her re-evaluation of her own methods throughout her experience. She cites a need for increased dependence on field photography, the abandonment of a rigid schedule, and flexibility on following research leads as they unfold (White 2013:608). Heeding these issues, I sought to document the site to the best of my abilities through a fluid study of recording information in my notebook on an event-by-event basis, rather than through intervals, based on the things that I heard, saw, or otherwise experienced. I also relied heavily on photographic documentation of the occasion, as it was a quick yet effective means to capture a moment in time. I was careful to not have any material culture in the form of flyers, trash, or objects otherwise that were attached to the parade. I began the Marche near the back of the parade and made an effort to move up through the crowd until I reached the front of the procession. In this way, I hoped to gain an understanding of this ephemeral event through multiple locations of the crowd.
White (2013) argues that even with a lack of physical evidence of temporary sites, the sites are created through distinct circumstances and represent important occasions in people’s lives (595). Therefore, sites such as the Marche du le Nain Rouge have a value for study because it serves varying purposes for different groups of people in and outside Detroit, and as such gets constituted itself in varying ways. Some of these ways will be discussed below.
An archaeological approach to the Marche du le Nain Rouge enables a material-based perspective, whilst simultaneously attempting to preserve intangible cultural events. Much of the Nain Rouge depends on historical figures and different folktale legends and narratives. This oral literature is a very important element of intangible heritage (UNESCO 2006:12). Therefore, preservation of such events requires the collection of the multiple expressions of production of this heritage.
A large part of the parade was viewed as driving the Nain Rouge out of town for all of the pain and despair he has caused. Obviously, in order to do this, it was necessary to situate the Nain Rouge as an awful red dwarf (Figure 2). This was supported in the material culture and discourses presented throughout the parade. As an example, I received a bookmark for the event, in which the phrase “evil be to those who evil thinks…” was printed on the back. These messages were prevalent throughout the parade: a looped audio track of the apparent Nain Rouge citing awful deeds he has committed, opening/closing ceremony remarks, and the ghoulish physical representation of the dwarf in costume, riding a fire-breathing dragon.
In turn, there were various people serving as protestors to the event, handing out flyers, and making calls out to the crowd. I made it a point to approach these people and collect any literature pamphlets they were giving out for use as my collection of material culture. One such person was attempting to “stop the Nain shame” and handing out flyers. I approached him, and he explained that the Nain was “an ancient European nature-spirit,” which has only Nain Rouge in a positive context. served in the past to warn of dangers. This appeared to be a slightly altered version of another protestor’s reasoning that I heard later on in the parade, in which they described the Nain Rouge as an Algonquin native legend, under their campaign to “support the short.” This later protest falls in line with a larger critique of the parade, in which it is perceived as a negative portrayal of native North Americans, in the same vein as to what Dye and Keel (2012) discuss in their article, within non-native art and entertainment. Furthermore, there were some individuals that appeared to be of non-indigenous descent wearing native headdresses as part of their “costumes” for the event. These sorts of portrayals serve to perpetuate a stereotype of the “redskin Indian” and carry undertones of the conflicts that emerged at the time of colonization. It is also aggravated as other participants were dressed in colonial attire and the fact that these people are chasing a red dwarf out of town (further symbolization of the takeover of Native land). Religious symbols were also prevalent throughout the event. Individuals in the full religious garb of priests and nuns walked in the parade. Some of these individuals added red face paint to their appearance. This may have also had some kind of undertone for the conversion of the natives in early colonization history.
The demographic of the event largely comprised of white people in their early to mid-20s. Of this population, it became apparent that many of these people were not directly from Detroit. This manifested itself in various ways. Most notably, a group in the back attempted to make their way through the crowd, as one individual declared “Make way for Downtown! You are probably from [insert suburb]!” into a megaphone as they tried to move forward. This is significant in that the parade is meant to be a sort of “for Detroit, by Detroit” event to rally pride and hope for the city. When it is carried out by a largely outsider audience, this message may somewhat be lost, and instead seen as a potential exclusionary, gentrification rather than as a rebuilding exercise.
On the event’s Facebook page, Francis Grunow, co-founder, is quoted as saying, “Of course it's supposed to be silly and fun, but it's also supposed to be positive and meaningful” (accessed April 2nd, 2014). I believe that through inventing the tradition, it is an attempt to unify Detroiter’s and create a celebration of the city and its people. I found the event to be a fun opportunity to come to Detroit and a way to boost the local business economy. Unfortunately, given the demographic and tenuous public knowledge of the event’s history and goals, it may be true that the Nain Rouge is foremost used as an excuse to come to Detroit and simply have a party.
