Q&A: How to Represent Your Indigenous Heritage While Doing Drag with India Taco

Drag performer India Taco. Photo by Drew Parker

Drag performer India Taco is like really creative. Read the Q&A from our interview available on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.

ZACK ORSBORN: I am joined by none other than India Taco. India is a fashion designer, seamstress, drag performer and a member of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians. So India, I met you probably in like 2021. You were kind of new to drag, and you were with Hunny Blunt. Hunny had come over to record a song, and I was just mesmerized by your talent and your softness. And as I've followed you over the years, you've gotten louder and brighter and bolder, and I wanted to bring you on. So thanks for joining me.

INDIA TACO: Oh, my God, thank you so much for having me. Like, literally you are an inspiration, honestly, even when it comes to my drag, I think of what you do as an artist—look at these things you do. And honestly, this wasn't the outfit that I was going to wear for today. I have not finished it, but you have a portrait where it's like a red background and it's nothing but sticky notes and smiley faces. And so last night I was cutting up so much yellow fabric making rhinestone smiley faces. And so you'll see it pretty soon. But I made an outfit inspired by you, I was gonna wear it today. But some things are better for other days, so I think we're going to save that.

ZACK: Yeah, we'll do it on another episode, like a return episode.

INDIA: Exactly. I remember sitting on the same couch with you, right? Seeing you and Hunny Blunt making this track for her War of the Roses number. And just seeing how quick you can do things is so iconic, it's so unique about somebody because if you have talent and ambition, then you automatically get straight to it.

ZACK: I do.

INDIA: A lot of people don't have that, no shade, but the people that do have it, they automatically want to go straight to it. And I just want to say you are very inspiring to the art community, to my drag as well.

ZACK: Thank you. That means a lot. I want to talk about your drag. So you made this.

INDIA: Yes, I did.

ZACK: Talk about—

INDIA: Taco Bout.

ZACK: Taco Bout!

INDIA: I want to do do a podcast and call it Let's Taco Bout It.

ZACK: Yes, I would definitely listen to that. It would be THEE podcast with two E's.

INDIA: Two E's, I think it would be. My podcast will be, I don't know, we'll just talk out of our asses type shit because I don't think about what I say. I literally just spit whatever out. And if it comes out offensive and I apologize, I just didn't think about it before I started. But I also think of life as an SNL skit.

I don't take things seriously. And so when it comes to life, I just think of it as an SNL skit where it's supposed to be serious, but it's funny as hell. It's hilarious, and I feel like that's where I want to be. So in life, I want to be on SNL.

ZACK: Yeah, I learned not to take life seriously from RuPaul. I've been a huge RuPaul fan and I watched his Masterclass, and he was the reason I started sobriety, actually, because he said, everything changes once you get sober. And he's just been such an inspiration to take life easy, follow your colors, follow your tribe. And really connect with your authentic inner child. Would you say through drag you've evolved as a person?

INDIA: Very much so, because when I started drag, I just thought of it as a hobby. I just thought of it like as I saw it on TV. Oh, let me give it a try. And then as I continued my drag, I learned so many life lessons. I learned so many things that I should have learned as I was growing up. And because of drag, it's shaped me into becoming a better person, a bigger person as well. I still live in a Peter Pan syndrome mindset. But because of drag, it's helping me become much more mature and making me more serious. Even though I don't like seriousness.

ZACK: At least take your craft more seriously.

INDIA: Exactly. And part of that was also designing and sewing and making things. And so if you really want something, you either can go buy it or you can make it. I used to be chunkier than this, but when you're plus size you can't find something that everybody else is wearing. You have to basically go out of your way and get that, or you have to make it yourself. And so that's when I was like, I can make that just in my size. So that's when I started watching YouTube tutorials. I went to a master class in downtown Memphis where they were doing sewing lessons. So I took a sewing class, and then I only took it for one day, and then the rest I was like, okay, I feel like I know the basics. Then I'll go ahead and just continue learning on my own. And so for the past two and a half years, I have been sewing. And it's crazy that I have gotten so many opportunities with sewing.

ZACK: Fashion designing and sewing is such a part big of your drag. And I do want to talk about those opportunities. I know that you started doing stuff at Playhouse. What was that like?

INDIA: So I actually applied for Playhouse after seeing my drag sister, my gay brother, Jimmy Rustenhaven. He’s an incredible, incredible, incredible talented performer. And I just love going to his house when me and Hunny go visit him. We just smoke a blunt, smoke a bowl, go around the house, and he's just on his piano, just performing his heart out. I'm just like, I can just lay here and just listen to you sing. But because of him, he was performing in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Wizard of Oz, and those are actually my first theater productions I ever seen. I never been to a theater to go watch a play or anything. I just thought, I'm gay, but I'm not that gay. But now I am that gay.

And so I was in the audience, and I was thinking, these outfits could be just a little bit better.

ZACK: Draggier.

INDIA: Draggier. Or much more. I feel like do they even have a gay up in there? And so that's when I started sending in my portfolio of all outfits that I made. And then I went straight to emailing the costume director. And then didn't hear nothing back for about six months. And then all of a sudden, I get an email and she's saying, hey, I just found your email. We see that you want to apply. Would you like to come over and check it out? Check out the costume department and talk about wanting to become an over hire. So right now I'm an over hire, but I basically still work there.

ZACK: You put your foot in the door.

INDIA: I guess. And because of that, doing costume designing, costume working at the Playhouse, it's making me much more appreciative of all the hard work that I've done. Of all the things that I've made for small, local people, a couple people out in the States and I'm just not trying to overwhelm myself with this position because things can happen real quick. But for now, I'm just keeping my excitement controlled because we have the whole rest of our lives. And so in the future, I want to either go forward with becoming a director or working somewhere like New York or LA, or work for someone or even have my own brand.

ZACK: I could totally see that. So speaking of your brand, I know you went through a rebrand. When I met you, you were Ariel Da Vinci.

INDIA: Ariella.

ZACK: Ariella da Vinci.

INDIA: Ariella da Vinci. Ariella da Stinky. Ariella da Vinky. Ariella the Big.

ZACK: All of that. So you changed your name to India Taco. And I know that is connected to your Choctaw Indian heritage. So talk about your name and then how that's connected to your heritage.

INDIA: So India Taco is a play on words of Indian taco. Indian taco is an indigenous dish, which is basically like a deep fried biscuit. I would call it a frybread because the frybread is the main base. And I would definitely call it like a deep fried biscuit. You just flatten it and you just put it in some grease. Let that shizzle get golden brown, which is why I'm also golden brown.

ZACK: Oh, there you go.

INDIA: And yeah, that's our indigenous taco, basically. And I've always had that name in reserve for somebody. Like if I had a drag child because I was okay with Ariella da Vinci when I had that name. It was a mixture of Ariana Grande and Cinderella. But I did not know that Ariella was already a name. And so I was watching movies and they were saying Ariella, I was like, okay, well maybe the name is already taken. And then Da Vinci—everybody has an iconic last name. And I was like, okay, I don't want no fashion last name like Balenciaga, no shade, or any kind of drag dynasty. I wanted to start my own. So that was back in 2019, in Starkville, Mississippi.

ZACK: Shout out to Starkville.

INDIA: Starkville. Yes. Oh my God.

ZACK: I didn't know you performed in Starkville. I went to Mississippi State.

INDIA: So I came literally right before Covid, 2019. And I was doing shows at Ricks.

ZACK: Yeah. Ricks. Oh my God, that's when I first did drag.

INDIA: Yeah. Oh my God, look at us. And so with all that—I'm so high. Oh my God, where am I at? I smoked a blunt before I came here.

ZACK: You were talking about DaVinci.

INDIA: Oh, yeah. DaVinci. So when I was doing drag in Starkville Mississippi in 2019, my name was Ariella DaVinci, and I felt like that was the name for me to start out with. And then I've always had India in my vault for so long. I wanted to have somebody or if I were to change my name, it would be India Taco because also, when I was Ariella, everyone thought I was Hispanic as well. And I was like, let me find something to make it seem much more indigenous and much more me, because no shade. I love my Hispanic people. And sometimes I feel honored to be called Hispanic. But if I think about it, if we really think about it, I think Hispanics and Indigenous people are all connected already.

And so I just would love to have the indigenous representation and show that to the world that we are still here, that we're still living. And that's why I had to change my name to India Taco, because I wanted to represent something that's my heritage, my favorite food and something as a pun because drag has a way of putting words into a name.

So what was your drag name?

ZACK: Oh, my God, it was Genny with a G.

INDIA: Genny with a G. Oh my God.

ZACK: Because my grandma is Jenny with a J. And I love my grandma and wanted to use part of her name. So it was Genny with the G. And my first show, Shangela was there. And my second show, Mariah Paris Balenciaga was there.

INDIA: I do remember this. I remember this show. Yeah. This is when I started coming to—this is when I was going to East Central Community College in Decatur, Mississippi. And then I went straight to university. And then that's when I noticed that there was drag in Starkville, watched it, and then that's how I started when the director that does the shows messaged me on Instagram. I didn't know what it was like, hey, I love your makeup. I love what you do. Do you want to do a show? And I was like, I don't—I've never done drag before. Don't know what that is. She was like, well, you just come on in and watch it and we'll see what you think. And I was like, watch it. And I think that was probably your show that I saw.

ZACK: It was probably—it was like 2014, 2015.

INDIA: Oh. Yeah, I was not in Starkville back then.

ZACK: Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I only did two shows and I was like, this is too much work. I don't want to shave my arms all the time. What keeps you going in drag? Because it is one of the hardest art forms, because you're combining aesthetics, performance, concepts.

INDIA: Humidity, this heat.

ZACK: Yes.

INDIA: Literally. Even with this mask I'm boiling up. But it's the dedication and it's the love that I have for it. What keeps me going with drag is that it really is—drag has paid my bills. Drag has shaped me into becoming a better person. Drag is like the sister that I needed growing up in life. Oh, and I want to thank all the people in my life because of drag, because of you, because of Hunny, because of my sister Nancy, because of everybody in my whole life that I've met through drag.

And so I feel like especially with Memphis too, I love Memphis. Memphis is like home to me. People talk shit about Memphis so much. And that's because they make it like that. I come from a small reservation and this is what I wanted. I wanted the lights, I wanted the big scene, I wanted the big city. But the way I see Memphis is the way people see New York, people see LA—as a city. And that's what I love about it. And so many iconic people came from Memphis.

ZACK: So many.

INDIA: I was doing my makeup singing, bitch I'm G-L-O. I'm so excited for her to come here to the Forum because if she doesn't do a meet and greet, you better do a fucking meet and greet. Because literally, I will give her my card. I'll be like, hey, girl, straight from Memphis. You want something from Memphis? I'll make you something, girl. You want something iconic girl? Here, here's my card. I will definitely do all that. I will tell her how iconic she is.

ZACK: So you were talking about growing up on the reservation. What was little India like growing up on the reservation? What was that experience like?

INDIA: Very—love you mom—very life lessons, a lot of life learning. A lot of growing up early. I'm adopted and I'm so grateful that my mother adopted me and took me in and also my dad, too. But rest in peace. He's not with us, but he's with me in my heart. But from the age as a child, I remember living with my grandma for the majority. And then when my grandma passed away, I had to stay with my aunt and my biological mother basically didn't want to take care of me. And so I was learning at a young age how to start taking care of myself, knowing that if my own mother didn't want me, then who would? It was very depressing. Really.

And then my adoptive mother took me in, and my dad, too. And they showed me the love that a child should have. They gave me the love that I needed. And they showed me how to become a much better person, knowing that even though some don't want you, somebody is always going to be there for you. And so that's what I love to do for my friends too—even though I might not be there physically, I'm always going to be there for you.

And then during my teen years it was like, they kind of knew that I was gay. But it was kind of hard for them to accept it. And we had our ups and downs, I could say. My parents and I had our ups and downs with that. But growing up during those teens, there were so many times when I was wanting to run to a bigger city, to some place that I knew that understood me, that wanted me, to let me know that I do matter. And I think that was when I came to—when I actually went to Starkville and met Hunny and I met Drew.

ZACK: And you found your tribe.

INDIA: I found them. No, they found me. I was literally like a little dog just walking down the street—ASPCA didn't even want me. And then Drew Jones is like, oh, look at that pretty puppy. Oh, my God, it's got rabies. We'll take care of it.

And so because of them, they also showed me how to love as an adult as well. You have your childhood friends and then you go into life and you finally find the adult friends that are there for you that you needed. And so I was happy to meet them. And then I stayed on the reservation for a little bit longer, worked at the waterpark, at the casinos, and then Geyser Falls. I was a lifeguard. Then I went to the front of the house at the restaurant, and then I became a server over there. And then I literally was sitting there thinking, you deserve more in life. And so that's when I started visiting Memphis more, and my first time here was for a Todrick Hall concert.

ZACK: That's pretty gay.

INDIA: Yeah. He was here for the Straight Out of Oz tour, his second tour. And I was like low key kind of like, it's like the Wicked song "One Short Day." You just see so many things that you didn't think that you could imagine seeing. Even Beale Street was so fucking amazing to see, even though it's just a freaking street.

And so that's when I was like, I deserve to be in a city. I deserve to show who I am, without being judged. I did get into an altercation with an ex. We started physical fighting right out in public, and I felt like—people said I won to be honest. And so with that, I feel like I gained respect because I showed that I'm not to be fucked with.

ZACK: Yeah. You're scrappy.

INDIA: And I only show that if I have to. I don't do it like I’m pointing a gun. Like, I literally want to understand what you have to say first. And if you really—even if you touch me first, though, that's when the alarm goes off and it's let's go. Ding ding ding.

And so growing up, going into my adulthood, I've been here for about five years in Memphis. And I do miss the reservation. I do miss home. I do miss my mom, my sisters and my nieces and nephews. Growing up, I'm missing out on their journey growing up as well. But pretty soon, the way I think about the Res is like, hey, the Res is going to be home. It's always home. It's always going to be there. You can always go back whenever you're ready. It's not going nowhere. And so right now, I am very satisfied and very happy here in Memphis.

ZACK: Good. How do you stay connected to the reservation and your indigenous culture? How does that influence your creativity?

INDIA: Well, first of all, representation really matters to me because—and it sounds cheesy to say, but how people say, I never seen people like myself on TV. I have seen people like me on TV. But they were white. Like, they had people who had to play indigenous people. And even Pocahontas is a whitewashed Disney movie. And I love Pocahontas. I even do Pocahontas for family events when I do drag. And even though people are not agreeing, with Pocahontas, I still see the positive in it. Like, they're at least trying.

ZACK: That's all you had growing up.

INDIA: Exactly. I remember just one movie called Billy Jack. I forgot who was in it, but that was another old Western with indigenous people. I remember there were real indigenous people in there, I think. So don't get me wrong. But with the tribe and my drag, I do as much as I can to show that we are still living here. We are still here. Even when I did pageants, I come on the stage, and I introduce myself in my native language first. And then I translate and be like, hi, my name is India Taco, the Native Supreme. And so I try to incorporate my language as well, even when I'm exiting. I'm like, yakoke, which means, we'll see you soon. Thank you.

ZACK: I love that.

INDIA: And I don't speak my language fluently as I should, because as you also probably heard, our language is probably dying. We are dying because our cultures and our peoples are also becoming extinct as well. And it's crazy—even in the voting polls, even in the news, they call us "others" rather than Indigenous or Native American. We're just left like chopped liver, basically. And so because of the media and all that, I try my best to represent who I am and put my culture right in the center. To show that hey we have somebody representing—that's me. What's up.

ZACK: So with indigenous ceremonies and rituals. Does that factor into your drag?

INDIA: Crazy enough, we don't really have those kind of ceremonial things. We do have powwows. We do have every summer. And on the second week of July, we have the Choctaw Indian Fair. And that's when we play our World Series stickball game, which is something I play as well. The only team that I have ever played with was Beaver Dam. That was my team while growing up, and I'm still for Beaver Dam, even if they win or not.

And then we have traditional dancing. We'll show you how we dance, or we have workshops to make rabbit sticks or bow and arrows—shooting arrows with bamboo trees and all that. It's basically teaching you how to hunt as well because a rabbit stick is basically like a stick, a thick, skinny tree that you throw at a rabbit, and that's how you would catch it. And then we'll have our storytelling. We'll talk about how the animals got their ways. My favorite story I love to tell everybody here in Memphis is how the possum got his tail.

ZACK: Okay. Tell me.

INDIA: Okay. So there was this beautiful possum with this beautiful, beautiful, bushy, bushy tail. Just flowy, 30 inch, bust down—she came straight from the salon. And the raccoon was kind of jealous. But raccoons are always known to be mischievous, always known to get into shit.

And so out of curiosity, the possum asks, "Oh, my God, I love your tail. How did you get those stripes?" And then the raccoon tells the possum, "Well, I layer it with leaves and I put it on top of burning ash. And then I let the smoke turn my fur black." And so she decides to do that. She doesn't realize that she's really burning her tail off. And so she takes off the leaves and realizes that her beautiful, long 30 inch bust down has come off like she just put Nair on that shit basically.

And so with those stories, it comes with a life lesson as well. Like basically the moral is don't be like everybody else. Because of the consequences of what happened—because she wanted her 30 inch bust down to be fucking striped up as well, her consequence was that she lost it. So that's how the possum got his tail and it also comes with a life lesson as well.

ZACK: Yeah, I can see how that factors into your drag because you're very unique. You're the Native Supreme. So my favorite question to ask artists is, what would be your dream project?

INDIA: Definitely my own brand. My own fashion brand. Not just fashion, but also makeup because I started off as a makeup artist before I did drag. I always wanted to be that person to succeed in something in beauty, because in high school, I would do people's hair in classrooms, making them look gorgeous. I was the only gay in high school. And that's why I feel like I was never bullied because people respected me. And also two-spirit people are respected in indigenous culture as well, because I am an indigenous two-spirit person. I love my masculinity and I love my femininity. I have my goatee and my beard, my mustache is growing back as we speak. Being two-spirit really shaped me into loving myself, both masculine and feminine.

And so with all that, not just fashion, not just makeup, but just my name. That's what the brand would be. But I don't want it just like that, I want to work hard for it. I want to show people that, hey I've started from the bottom and now I'm here, as Drake would say. And also to let people see my people succeed. I know you're already succeeding as well with three fucking books already on a book tour, performing with Gaga.

ZACK: Oh, my God, I would love to work with Gaga. I think the world of you. And I'm so glad that I've got to see you grow so much from that shy India sitting on my couch. And now you're so boisterous and loud and you're bright and you've hosted shows, you're doing costume design, you're making your own fucking face-kini. Like, I really want to thank you for coming on, and you are such an inspiration. I know people watching this will be inspired by you, so thank you so much.

INDIA: I really appreciate you and I thank you so much. Like you're doing something I want to do too. I want to do a podcast. I want to do a YouTube channel and all that. And because of that I'm going to go home and buy a camera and start my own shit now. I am living as a drag queen—you get off work, you hang out with friends, you go to a show, and then you get drunk and you wake up and you're so fucking hungover, and then you realize you have an interview today, so you gotta get ready real quick.

ZACK: Yeah. Resourcefulness, quickness, creativity. That's what it takes.

INDIA: And some people can't handle all that. And there's nothing wrong with that. Some people just can. And I just happen to be one of those that can juggle and multitask everything. And still come to a show—the next morning I have brunch.

Where to find India

Instagram: @indiataco