# @60minutes on TikTok

- **Type:** Video
- **Original URL:** https://www.tiktok.com/@60minutes/video/7625427283813109006
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/62544127-60minutes-tiktok
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/040f9063c3.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-04-05T23:52:44.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** 60 Minutes (@60minutes) — https://gondola.cc/60minutes

## Caption

There is a storied New Orleans culture most tourists never see. They’re known as Mardi Gras Indians, or Black Masking Indians. On Mardi Gras day, participants face off in a mock battle, competing to show whose suit is, in their words, “the prettiest.” The bejeweled, beaded, and sequined suits are handcrafted in secret for an entire year. Dozens of groups, calling themselves tribes, take part. The leader is known as a big chief, who, along with his big queen and their crew, moves through historically Black neighborhoods in New Orleans searching for other tribes. “I'm ready to kill you dead with a needle and thread,” says Big Chief Demond Melancon of the Young Seminole Hunters. According to Mardi Gras Indian lore dating back more than a century, the suits and headdresses are a sign of respect for the Native Americans who gave refuge to enslaved Black people who had escaped servitude in New Orleans. #mardigras #neworleans 

## Stats

- **Views:** 4,755
- **Likes:** 357
- **Shares:** 29
- **Comments:** 2

## Tags

mardigras, neworleans

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