What messages do you think the people in this picture are conveying to the audience? Is there a day of the year that you or your family reserves for some similar cultural interaction or expression? Describe. 
Above: Chocktaw Indians at a multi-tribal Pow-Wow in Point Au Chien (near Houma, Louisiana) on September 16, 2006; also below, along with a Mardi Gras Indian pictured from Google.
As you'll notice by the three flags below (one for the U.S., one for the state, and one for the Indian nations), as well as by the number of former servicemen among the tribes, I found at Point Au Chien that Native Americans today are some of the most patriotic citizens one can encounter. Wearing $3000 costumes year after year and dancing rain or shine, they prove themselves to be excellent craftsmen with fierce loyalties, even among those tribes not yet recognized by the federal government. To paraphrase one Choctaw woman's sentiments, many Indians do not know their real birth name, but for one of them to know his nationality is as good as treason.The Mardi Gras Indians keep their traditions in celebration of the common oppression to whites which they shared with Native Americans. However, they only show their regalia on Mardi Gras Day, St. Joseph's Day (the day after St. Patrick's), and occasionally, "Super Sunday" (the day of the Superbowl). Unlike true Native Americans, the Mardi Gras Indians wear their regalia and perform their songs and dances in open competition over territory with others--competition so fierce that before the peace movements of the 1960's it used to result in gang violence at other times of the year. Today, the main competition is over whose costume, made in secret by assistants during the course of the year, has the most intricate ornaments and design. Both groups of "Indians" in southern Louisiana speak or sing a version of French known either as Cajun or Creole based with some exceptions on whether the speakers are urban or rural.
No comments:
Post a Comment