Musing on Mardi Gras Indians: What Traditions Are You Creating?
Reflections on Mardi Gras Day 2025
Today is Mardi Gras in New Orleans. For this magical city, the whole day (ok, the entire two months prior too) is a celebration. And we go pretty hard (school is actually out, see below). And any and everything goes on Mardi Gras day, translated from French to mean Fat (Gras) Tuesday (Mardi).
As a hardworking, recent transplant to New Orleans from NYC, it has taken a bit of time for the colorful & multi-sensory tradition to grow on me. I remember my very first year, being on conference calls on Mardi Gras Day, not knowing that outside my doorstep a citywide jubilee was occurring.
There is some symbolism about the day I’ve learned, after all the colors of Mardi Gras (purple, green, and gold) were selected by the Krewe of Rex in 1872 reflecting justice (purple), faith (green) and power (gold). If you didn’t know, like me, a “Krewe” is a private social club that stages carnival-related events — there are many.
Mardi Gras has been reportedly celebrated in New Orleans since shortly after the city’s 1718 founding, with the first parade occurring in 1837. The Louisiana State Museum claims the Mardi Gras tradition stretches back even further, to 1699, when French explorer Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville celebrated his arrival at the mouth of the Mississippi River on Fat Tuesday.
And today, after my morning bike ride resulted in me joining the 9th Ward Black Hatchet Mardi Gras Indian procession across the canal over the St. Claude bridge, I now know even more about traditions related to my own heritage.
With my hybrid bike and helmet on, it was obvious I was an onlooker. Yet, my skin complexion gave me a pass and allowed me to quasi-blend in. My curiosity to know what was going was insatiable.
Although I was technically at the end of my bike ride, the U-Haul trucks with the Indians and the cars carrying the culture-bearer helpers with flashing lights beckoned me to ride alongside the cars to the next destination — so I did.
Upon arrival at the St. Claude & St. Anthony Street, the cars stopped. So I stopped. And boy was I in for a treat. The Black Hatchet tribe of Mardi Gras Indians encountered another Black Masking Indian tribe, and as people gathered around to watch the “sparring,” I just had to know more. So, I humbly requested an interpretation of what I was watching of a fellow onlooker, Marlon. As it turned out, Mr. Marlon and his family had been members of Black Masking Indian tribes for decades. What he shared with me set me off on a day-long fact finding mission for understanding.
According to the Smithsonian Magazine, “scholars generally agree that the Mardi Gras Indian tradition is linked to early encounters between the region’s Native and Black communities. Founded by the French in 1718, the city of New Orleans stands on land originally inhabited by the Chitimacha Tribe. As early as 1719, European colonizers brought enslaved people from the western coast of Africa to the nascent port city, which eventually became a hub of the United States slave trade.” Understanding this explains the mystery to me of African Americans in feathers bearing Indians on their suits.
There were black people in Louisiana before the transatlantic slave trade, they were Black Indians, and many of them empathized with the colonization efforts and helped them. So, out of homage and respect to the Native Americans who helped African slaves escape slavery, African Americans pay homage to them — to this day.
As shared in the above video, masking includes three elements: 1) Putting on the mask, which is of African tradition, 2) The procession through neighborhoods and in the streets which is a celebration of freedom for those of African descent (as being free to roam the streets was not always a given), and 3) The ritual of the designing and fabrication of the suit, which could take up to a full year.
And now that I’ve shared a little bit of history about Mardi Gras, I turn to you to ask what traditions are you creating. We could all be so lucky to create traditions which would be passed through and on through generations for centuries. But what about something you can do for your own little family tribe?
A dear beloved family I’ve been blessed to know for 30+ years created an Annual Cookie Bake for their grandchildren 20 years ago. Now, the grandchildren are young responsible adults who carry this tradition forward each Christmas, and I suspect will carry it on with their children.
A journey of a million miles begins with a single step, so what traditions, whether great or small, can you create for yourself or others today to carry your lineage, culture or family forward?
Please research more on the Black Masking Indians/Mardi Gras Indians. This is only the tip of the iceberg about this long-standing tradition.
Olivia is a C-Suite Marketing Exec, Author of 51 Brand Marketing Tips for Creators & Founder of Omerge Alliances & Freedom at The Mat. An NYU & Loyola Professor, she has led mktg at influential organizations such as Carol’s Daughter, VIBE, Live Nation, Ogilvy & more for 25+ years. A Native Memphian, now based in New Orleans, is a forever Harlemite (NYC) who travels extensively and blooms where she is planted.
