Lundi Gras

Lundi Gras is the relatively recent name for the pre-celebration marking the arrival of REX (King of Mardi Gras and the leader of the oldest Krewe).  He arrives by boat on Monday.  Recently New Orleans has revived Lundi Gras as a day for family and culture, marked by various live music venues along the river front.

For Lundi Gras, and also to Celebrate Black History Month in America, I am going to introduce you to a tradition little known outside New Orleans:  Mardi Gras Indians.

The tradition celebrates the affinity between Native Americans and African Slaves whom they often aided in escape and adopted into their disease devastated tribes.  In the Caribbean and South America, Escaped Slaves formed alliances with the Indigenous peoples to form 'Maroon ' communities, which still exist in some countries.

 

Extended Families form "Tribes" that wear costumes of similar color and design. 

  

The radition is passed down through the family to its yougest members.

  

Happy Lundi Gras!