The focus of this group is to share the culture of Mardi Gras Indians with the world. In New Orleans, we have so many fascinating and unique celebrations. Share your pictures here! 
SLIDESHOW - New Orleans Mardi Gras Indians are African American and Afro Creole bands of mostly working-class men who use the European Carnival day or 'Fat Tuesday'” to express continuity within black communities across the cityscape...
The focus of this group is to share the culture of Mardi Gras Indians with the world. In New Orleans, we have so many fascinating and unique celebrations. Share your pictures here!
Creole Osceola Tribe.
THE TREME BONE’S CONNECTED TO THE — RIO BONE…. Although Mardi Gras season tends to run late into the night, Mardi Gras day itself is much like Christmas–the excitement begin…
2012 has so far been a very busy year. My new venture into children's books started with a visit to NY for the SCBWI Winter Conference. It was a wonderful experience and the community of children's illustrators seemed very warm and receptive. And learning how much I didn't know is always a valuable lesson. I am just delighted to be working with my new agent, Chris Tugeau. She's sharp, enthusiastic and inspiring. I'm splitting my occasional free time between sample work for Chris and a book dummy for an amazing text by children's author, James Thach. More to come in later posts. On the project front, there have been several adult book cover commissions and a few editorial jobs in the mix. I hustled to get several out the door before our trip south, and wound up hauling my large format scanner and my printer plus all my painting supplies to Florida. So the trip was a comfortable mix of work and play. Below is a piece for Strategic Finance Magazine that was commissioned by one of my favorite art directors, Mary Zisk. It accompanied a story presenting a corporate survey on whistleblowing: what was seen, was it reported, who kept silent, and regret for acting or not acting. Whistleblowing: to keep silent or not The Milken Institute's story "Don't Kill the Lawyers. Deregulate them!" offered an opportunity for silliness. The art director, Joannah Ralston, her editor and I had a good time coming up with product labeling for off-the-shelf legal specialties. Aisle 6, on the left Of course there was the play time on Sugarloaf Key and the best fresh fish ever, thanks to our Yellowtail fisher-person experts Pat Jackson, Carol Sullivan and Ron Maier. Cooking with Djami: Paella for ten Yellowtail Snapper fish tacos Back home for a week of catch-up then a quick trip to New Orleans to help with some family matters. Wise planning put us there just in time for the French Quarter Fest, an amazing local mix of fantastic music, unbelievable food and the best people watching ever. On the way to Richard's fishing camp near Des Allemands, southwest of the city Luck Dog, of Ignatius J. Reilly fame One of the stages on Royal Street Mardi Gras Indian – the real deal She looks so much like the violinist on Treme! Washboard man
TRUCKIN’ (THE INDIAN-APOLIS 500) My heart raced with excitement as I shot down the narrow, rugged side streets of Uptown. Thinking my roommate had spotted a lone tribe of wandering Mardi Gras India…
On Magazine Street over margaritas and sherry-soaked scallop tacos, a New Orleans friend put it this way: “we are drinking people with a parading problem”. He was talking about his rela…
Explore RPhotos2008's 147268 photos on Flickr!
Explore RPhotos2008's 147268 photos on Flickr!
While the rest of the U. S. was getting drunk on green beer last Sunday, we here in New Orleans...well, lots of us got drunk on green beer. But we also had my favorite parade day of the year: Mardi Gras Indians Super Sunday. Above: Chief David of the Washetaw tribe. No...it was not convenient for me to have St. Patrick's Day and Super Sunday on the same day. That green flash was me, leaving the parade and peddling like mad to get to the next gig. But I did it, and survived. For any of my readers who don't know, Mardi Gras Indians are the oldest parade tradition in New Orleans, and dates back to a time after Emancipation when African Americans paid tribute to the local American Indians who aided escaped slaves and hid them from white slave hunters (there was a big bounty for "returning" escaped slaves...even those actually born as free people). Under Jim Crow laws, African Americans could not parade openly on Mardi Gras day, so Saint Joseph's Day became the traditional day for Indians. On the Sunday nearest to Saint Joseph's Day, the Indians gather in LaSalle Park (just four blocks from my house) and parade through Central City. (On Saint Joseph's Night, which, as I write this, is tonight, each tribe parades through their own neighborhood: Lauren and I will be joining the Washitaw tribe in the Treme). I came up Washington Avenue just as the Wild Tchoupitoulas tribe were "masking" or "suiting up," the process of donning the one hundred pound suits that take all year, and thousands of hours, to create. It was an awesome spectacle to witness. Above: Big Chief and his daughters prepare to suit up. Dressing an Indian Princess... Indian culture is passed from generation to generation, often from parent to child. Above, Chief staff in hand, and ready to go... Next the Spy Boy appeared. The Spy Boy is the member of the tribe who watches for other tribes approaching: other tribes may be friendly or hostile. If an approaching tribe is hostile, the Spy Boy will signal the Flag Boy, who will alert the Big Chief. Here on Washington Avenue, while the other members of the tribe are suiting up, the Spy Boy grabs some love and admiration... Now the Spy Boy is joined by the Wild Man: his job will be to part the crowds so that the Big Chief and his retinue can come through. He also shouts the credo of the tribe, which always includes the phrase "Um Bow! (Won't bow), Don't Know How!" Below: A detail of the Wild Man's suit. Yes it's creepy...that's the idea. Wild Man and Little Queen. Above: Second Chief Floyd and Queen Kim. Queen Kim was dancing when I arrived, waiting to suit up. The only time Queen Kim stopped dancing all day was to have photos taken with members of the crowd. Lauren had wandered off to find Washitaw, the tribe she would march with, and after Wild Tchoupitoulas was ready to go, I left the scene there and started up the street to see other tribes. I found several other tribes, including the Golden Eagles, suiting up: Even for an Indian, a cell phone is a necessity. I found Lauren with the Washitaw, a newer tribe who had broken away from Yellow Pocahontas a few years ago. Their suits are simply amazing! Perhaps the most beautifully detailed I have ever seen, and that's comparing them to some stunning work by other tribes. Big Chief David above, with details of his suit below. Below: Queen Rukia, whose totem is the Monarch Butterfly, and who dances like...well you guessed it The butterflies on her suit are spectacular. I also saw the tribe below suit up: I believe they are the Morning Star Hunters... sometimes one has to collect that information by word of mouth, and there is room for error (I apologize if I am naming this tribe incorrectly). Suited up, each tribe was ready to march. I'll write more in a day or two, with Part 2, The Parade: I have a LOT more photos to edit... [Afterward, late on Tuesday night: After writing this, I marched with the Washitaw for four hours, covering about eight or ten miles through the Treme, the Ninth Ward and the Bywater. It was amazing. Chief David took us to a seniors home, where his sister lives, and invoked the spirit of the White Buffalo to bring the seniors health and spiritual peace. We sang and marched, sang and marched for hours, gaining more and more marchers behind us. I just came home to rest a moment: the tribe is still singing and marching.] From Mardi Gras Indian Super Sunday, this is Kenny Klein explaining it all...well, explaining part one at least.
Mardi Gras Indians on St. Joseph's night in New Orleans, Louisiana on Saturday, March 19, 2011. Photo by Kim Welsh.
Explore RPhotos2008's 147268 photos on Flickr!
If you know me or have been following my work for any amount of time, you know that Super Sunday is one of my favorite, if not my very favorite, event of the year. The tribes, the chants, the suits, the colors, the culture, the music, the food, the people...there's just something special and beautiful about it, and it's completely unique to New Orleans. It was a great day, even if it was a little warm. To top it all off we had the best crawfish of the season over at a buddy's boil afterwards. Sometimes New Orleans just can't be beat. This was one of those days. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. Hit play and enjoy. Indian Red (Wild Man Memorial) by Mardi Gras Indians on Grooveshark [Forgive me for lack of tribe names...I tried to keep up, but my memory is pretty horrible. If you have any info on the tribes or indians, please let me know. It will be greatly appreciated and I can give these artists the recognition they deserve.] Some of the best trained horses in the world, no question. I love the 3D pop the 50mm 1.4 gives me. My favorite lens by far. Yes, you can touch. Riki had my old camera...pro status. Love this picture. These pictures do not do justice to how elaborate these suits are. They are pieces of art that should hang in museums. Wipe down. These suits are heavy, and hot. "I love your face..." "I love my face too!" Is this kid not Jay-Z? After trying his hardest not to crack a smile, his mother intervened, "Smile for the man!" Kid's got moves. They all do. Time for some crawfish!
Phillip visits the Backstreet Cultural Museum in Treme, home to a unique cultural archive: the colourful costumes of Mardi Gras Indians. Mardi Gras Indians are African Americans who make elaborately beaded and feathered costumes inspired by American Indians' dress. It's a tradition that honours the support given by American Indians to slaves before emancipation. The 'Indians' are organised into 25 'tribes', each with their own chief and strict hierarchy. Each year they sew a new costume from scratch, which they parade through the backstreets of New Orleans during Mardi Gras and on St Joseph's night - competing with other tribes to be the most 'pretty'.
Please help me identify this Tribe. Thanks.
The focus of this group is to share the culture of Mardi Gras Indians with the world. In New Orleans, we have so many fascinating and unique celebrations. Share your pictures here!
Explore mojosmom's 10407 photos on Flickr!
Please help me identify this Tribe. Thanks.
The Fi-Yi-Yi Mardi Gras Indians at the Bayou Boogaloo 2013, New Orleans, Louisiana Photo by Kim Welsh www.offbeat.com
Indian Post - Mardi Gras, Mardi Gras is the most colorful celebration I have ever seen here! Mardi Gras is French for Fat Tuesday, referring to the practice of the last night of eating richer, fatty foods before the ritual of fasting begins. Popular practices include wearing masks and costumes, overturning social conventions, dancing, sports competitions, parades, etc. While not observed nationally throughout the United States, a number of traditionally ethnic French cities and regions in the country have notable ....
Please help me identify this Tribe. Thanks.
Please help me identify this Tribe. Thanks.
Mardi Gras Parades 2013 Mardi Gras is celebrated in Mobile, Alabama, New Orleans and other U.S. Gulf Coast cities. New Orleans Mardi Gras Parades 2013 Mardi Gras 2013 is Tuesday, February 12 Some…
The focus of this group is to share the culture of Mardi Gras Indians with the world. In New Orleans, we have so many fascinating and unique celebrations. Share your pictures here!
For many members of our community, Carnival is not complete without a glimpse of at least one extraordinary, only-in-New Orleans Mardi Gras Indian. And…
Big Chief Darryl Montana - Yellow Pocahontas Tribe.
