New Orleans preserves Mardi Gras tribes

NEW ORLEANS, Jan. 11 (UPI) -- New Orleans is seeking to preserve Mardi Gras Indian tribes -- mostly black groups who don American-Indian apparel -- that were scattered by Hurricane Katrina.

The tribes, which number about 60, are mostly made up of African-Americans who adopt American-Indian culture and dress in traditional apparel for Mardi Gras as a way of paying tribute to Chickasaw, Choctaw and other tribes that offered refuge to runaway slaves, USA Today reported Friday.

Jordan Hirsch, executive director of Sweet Home New Orleans, an organization that has sought to restore the city's culture after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, said about 100 of the estimated 300 tribe members in New Orleans left the city after the storm, while 100 others were displaced within the city.

The New Orleans City Council voted in December to create a task force focused on preserving the tribes.

"Right now, a lot of Indians are struggling with basics like shelter and health care," Hirsch said. "If these struggles prevent them from returning to their neighborhoods and raising families in their community, the meaning of 'masking' may be different in a generation, and certain aspects of the traditions may be lost."

Mardi Gras is Feb. 5.