The Wild Tchoupitoulas Gonna Stomp Some Rump

Since I mentioned the Tchoupitoulas in a previous post, I figured I should let people who aren't from an area that embraces Mardi Gras know exactly what that is all about.

The Wild Tchoupitoulas, a musical group from New Orleans, is one of the groups of Mardi Gras Indians that get involved with the Carnival celebrations prior to Lent. The Mardi Gras Indians were groups of African-Americans from New Orleans who knew that they'd never be invited to the hoity-toity Mardi Gras balls that the white folks in town threw.

So they organized their own parades, directed by the Big Chief of each tribe. "Organized" may be the wrong word to use, since these events weren't organized like the rest of the festivities. The parade time, participants, and route weren't decided until the last minute, and all of those decisions were at the whim of each tribe's Big Chief.

Basically, what I'm trying to say is that Mardi Gras wasn't always the tourist-friendly activity that it is today.

Anyway, the story of the Mardi Gras Indians is fascinating, and the Wild Tchoupitoulas are the funkiest of the bunch.

If you don't believe me, check out "Meet de Boys on de Battlefront."

That'll make you a believer.