Mardi Gras in New Orleans

Blaine Kern's Mardi Gras World
Where the parade floats are made ...

  

  

  


Mardi Gras Indians!

      

      

*First five photos courtesy of Christina Turner, Virginia Commonwealth University

 

Parade Scenes

 

 

The Zulu parade - African Americans in blackface, a proud tradition that takes
newcomers by surprise.  The most sought-after "throw" of Mardi Gras
is a painted Zulu coconut.

 

Department Members and Friends

  

  

In the old Department Apartment, one block off the parade route



Prof. Monica and Prof. Elvis...


For further reading, see the article by department members Wesley Shrum and John Kilburn, "Ritual Disrobement at Mardi Gras." Social Forces, December 1996.  

For more information about Blaine Kern's Mardi Gras World, see their website.  And for more on the Mardi Gras Indians, see Christina Turner's website at Virginia Commonwealth University or this page on MardiGrasNewOrleans.com.  Lots more photos here.

On Second-Line parades, (related to, but not the same as Mardi Gras), see the article by Helen Regis, of the LSU Anthropology Department, "Second Lines, Minstrelsy, and the Contested Landscapes of New Orleans Afro-Creole Festivals," Cultural Anthropology v 14 no4 Nov 1999. p. 472-504.

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