Krewes for the Culture: In Honor of Mardi Gras

The colorful, joyful, and harmonious time has finally made its way back around. As we dive into Black history in February, a beautiful and prosperous city is celebrating its cultural holiday that has people from all over traveling to participate.

Mardi Gras is a festive day that marks the close of the pre-Lenten season before the Christian tradition of Lent in preparation for the Easter holiday. Mardi Gras directly translates to “Fat Tuesday” and derives from the custom of using all the fats in the home in preparation for fasting and abstinence amid Easter. The holiday’s true history is unclear. However, it is known that its origins come from the Christian faith and date back thousands of years to pagan celebrations of spring and fertility.

The first celebration of the holiday in now New Orleans happened on March 3rd, 1699, when French explorers landed and held a small celebration. In the following decades, the tradition continued and expanded to street parties, masked balls, and lavish dinners. Though the celebrations grew to be something the world waited and traveled for, Mardi Gras grew to look different in other communities.

There is a history of Mardi Gras that gets overlooked by mainstream celebrations. However, during the parades and festivities, a group known as the Mardi Gras Indians formed and created their traditions. The Mardi Gras Indians are made up of the inner-city African American community of New Orleans. This community has been around for over a century, but its parade and festivities are the least recognized by the masses.

Krewes have been traditionally associated with Mardi Gras, as they are organizations that stage a parade for a carnival celebration. A krewe usually names their parades after certain Roman or Greek heroes. There was historically cultural separation because of slavery, resulting in Black people not being allowed to participate in traditional krewes.

Mardi Gras Indians named themselves to pay respect to the Native Americans for helping them escape enslavement and accepting them into their society. Once freed, they developed their style of celebration, and krewes opted to use imaginary Indian tribes according to the streets of their ward or neighborhood to name their krewe.

The Mardi Gras Indians did not always have a joyous holiday, as they previously used this day to settle scores with neighboring tribes. Violence was horrendous, and police could not intervene because of the confusion with the main city events, causing a very crowded area with masked participants.

The days of settling disputes are long gone, and today, the Mardi Gras Indians use the day to compare one another’s art and craftsmanship. Though the Mardi Gras Indians are overlooked, they continue to impact their communities by bringing everyone together to celebrate rich history and art.

If you happen to be in New Orleans during the celebrations, see if you spot the parade of the Mardi Gras Indians. Enjoy the sight of a century-long tradition!