Mardi Gras Indians – Super Sunday 2023

Super Sunday is one of my favorite days of the year – especially for photos. Some of New Orleans’ 50+ Mardi Gras Indian tribes gather around A.L. Davis Park to show off their incredible suits of feathers, beads, ribbons and treasures. We arrived early to choose from the many food trucks and pop-ups serving everything from red beans and rice to adult beverages served in hollowed-out pineapples. Neighbors and friends gathered in yards and empty lots and around the occasional Rolls Royce, Bentley, or tricked out vintage car.

Mardi Gras Indians – Super Sunday 2019

Super Sunday is easily one of my favorite days of the year as many of the Mardi Gras Indian tribes step out to show off their stunning suits of beads and feathers. I’m always humbled by the craftsmanship and dedication that goes into the staggeringly beautiful suits our neighbors spend the year carefully designing and crafting with elaborately beaded panels often portraying tales of battle and loss. Weighing up to 150 pounds and costing $3000 or more, the suits portray wildlife or a 3-D version of the Taj Mahal or even a tribute to things that “Ain’t dere no more” like the Jax brewery and the Saints “Dome patrol.”

The big surprise this year was the women. Queen Tahj of the Golden Eagles tribe created a gown rather than a suit. She worked her grandmothers earrings and brooches into her sequin top and her long skirt was beaded with the figures of women and children encircling her to represent her community

Mardi Gras Indians Super Sunday – Photos!

Super Sunday is easily one of my favorite days of the years. The magnificent Mardi Gras Indians show off the plumed and embellished suits they spent the year carefully designing and crafting. Elaborately beaded panels often portray tales of fighting and loss. One family told the story of the wife’s battle with illness and her husband carrying her through the fight. One of the children in the Red Flag Hunters was adorned with sparkly images of Goofy, Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and friends.

Mardi Gras Indians Super Sunday 2015

This was my 6th Mardi Gras Indians Super Sunday and it still shocks my senses. Music swirls with the smell of grilled meats as everyone gathers at A.L. Davis Park to see the Indians’ elaborately crafted suits which weigh up to 150 pounds, cost up to $5000 (though I’ve heard $9000 once) and can take up to a year to design, construct and bead. When I moved here in 2009, the tribes were still fighting  for their right to a permitted parade. This year, I spotted Mayor Mitch Landrieu shaking hands with police parade escorts before things got rolling.

Mardi Gras Indians 2012

I’m what some call a “crafter.” As some of you readers know, I often crochet, knit, paint, make soap, jewelry and ornaments. In New Orleans, LOTS of people are crafters, even if only when it comes to costumes for Mardi Gras Day. This city is filled with creativity, imagination and skilled hands. But, the Mardi Gras Indians take crafting to a whole new level. They work on their suits for a year, investing up to $5000 on the exquisite plumes and beads that become their storytelling suits.