Tuesday, February 05, 2008

Mardi Gras Indians




One part of Mardi Gras, and New Orleans, that I just love are the Mardi Gras Indians.

The following is directly lifted from Wikipedia:

Mardi Gras Indians are mostly African-American Carnival revelers in New Orleans, Louisiana who dress up for Mardi Gras in suits influenced by Native American ceremonial apparel.

Collectively, their organizations are called "tribes". Many of the tribes also parade on the Sunday nearest to Saint Joseph's Day ("Super Sunday," not to be confused with Super Bowl Sunday), and sometimes the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.

There are around 38 tribes. They can range in size from a half dozen to several dozen members. The tribes are largely independent, but a pair of umbrella organizations loosely coordinate the Uptown Indians and the Downtown Indians.
The last time I was at Mardi Gras was in 2003. At one point we were driving to another family's house while the boys slept in the car. We came upon a group of Indians on the edge of the Uptown neighborhood decked out from the top of their headpieces to their feet in feathers and sequins. They were a sight to behold.

PS - Those of you with primaries on Super Tuesday, I hope you all voted. Because this is what we're dealing with.


From Mad Magazine.

8 comments:

Adventures In Waitressing said...

Loved the video! And I agree.. vote, vote, vote!

Flower Child said...

wouldn't primary day be so much fun with a parade? vote! because you can and I can't. please, someone vote for DC voting rights!

Jami said...

Flower Child absolutely has the right idea! A Primary Parade! Open to everyone who voted. With lots of eating and drinking, too. That should get out the vote!

And another very correct idea about letting DC citizens vote, too!

Heather said...

I bet Mardi Gras is quite a sight.

I had no idea you couldn't vote in DC.

Jen said...

Great post, SMID! Also, I responded to your comment on my blog. I'm trying to respond in the comments section these days (I'm so bad at that!).

Anonymous said...

My boss just got back from Banda Aceh, basically the worst hit area of Indonesia during the tsunami, and said the rebuilding efforts are going better than New Orleans after Ketrina.

PATHETIC.

Goofball said...

that video is great. Never heard of Mardi Gras Indians...see I learned a new thing once more by reading blogs :p

Jenn in Holland said...

I love a parade!