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Dancing in Congo Square, 1886. Mardi Gras Indians have been practicing their traditions in New Orleans since at least the 18th century. The colony of New Orleans was founded by the French in 1718, on land inhabited by the Chitimacha Tribe, and within the first decade 5,000 enslaved Africans were trafficked to the colony.
The Wild Tchoupitoulas were originally a group of Mardi Gras Indians formed in the early 1970s by George "Big Chief Jolly" Landry. Landry, with his self-identified Choctaw heritage, [1] had been an active performer in the Mardi Gras Indian styling for a number of years.
Mardi Gras arrived in North America as a sedate French Catholic tradition with the Le Moyne brothers, [3] Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville and Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, in the late 17th century, when King Louis XIV sent the pair to defend France's claim on the territory of Louisiane, which included what are now the U.S. states of Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana.
Mardi Gras (UK: / ˌ m ɑːr d i ˈ ɡ r ɑː /, US: / ˈ m ɑːr d i ɡ r ɑː /; [1] [2] also known as Shrove Tuesday) is the final day of Carnival (also known as Shrovetide or Fastelavn); it thus falls on the day before the beginning of Lent on Ash Wednesday. [3]
The first North American Mardi Gras was celebrated in Alabama—not Louisiana. French-Canadian explorer Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville arrived in what is now modern day Mobile, Alabama on Fat ...
Mardi Gras Indian gangs have existed since the early 20th Century. Each gang performs its own original songs and dances on Mardi Gras Day, on "Super Sunday" (the Sunday before St. Patrick's Day) and at other functions in the community. The "Big Chief", the "Spy Boy", the "Flag Boy" and several other roles or offices are important to the Mardi ...
A group calling itself the Wild Magnolias, participating in the local "Indian masking" traditions and performing New Orleans Mardi Gras music, extends at least back into the 1950s. The group's lead member was called the Big Chief, and at least three Big Chiefs are known to have headed the band for short stints prior to 1964: Leon, Flap, and Joe ...
The word Tchoupitoulas is derived from the name of an Indian tribe and is believed to mean "those who live at the river". [4] According to Library of Congress, "Since the 19th century, bands of African-Americans in New Orleans have masqueraded as American Indians during Mardi Gras. They wear elaborate, homemade costumes planned and constructed ...