Skull and Bones gangs of New Orleans, a Mardi Gras tradition from 1819

October 24, 2013 8:25 AM

Doors cracked, and people peered out at the apparitions on the street. Most of the grown-ups smiled and said “Good morning”, or “Happy Mardi Gras!” Kids peeked around their parents, looking thunderstruck. “Get up outta that bed! It's Mardi Gras morning!” the bone men yelled, “You gotta get your life straight!” One of the less well-known traditions of Mardi Gras in New Orleans are the Skull and Bone gangs who come out in the early morning. Their mission, besides the celebration of Mardi Gras, is to seek out small children and warn to live their lives rightly least the skull and bone spirits should have to come to them too soon. The tradition lives on, continuing what began around 1819, now mingling with the "younger" traditions of the Mardi Gras Indians and the Baby Dolls. For more history, check out Gumbo Ya-Ya, a collection of Louisana Folk Tales, on Archive.org
posted by filthy light thief (15 comments total)

I was woken up by a Skull and Bones gang on my first Mardi Gras. It came as a total surprise; I thought at first that I was just hearing a bunch of yahoos that stayed out too late. It started with the yelling: "Get up! Get up! It's Mardi Gras day!" Then people banging on pots with wooden spoons, then trashcan lids and pie plates, and finally someone dragging a metal folding chair, trailing chains, down the middle of the street. My wife and I went to the door to take a look outside. Other people were standing in their doorways too, all in pajamas, smiling wide. Little kids were jumping around and loving the chaos. It was 6:30 AM on a Tuesday, and I was giddy. Thanks for posting this, filthy light thief, and for reminding me of that.
posted by JohnFredra at 8:42 AM on October 24, 2013 [10 favorites]

No connection to that other Skull and Bones gang...
posted by Doktor Zed at 8:42 AM on October 24, 2013

Nope, this one has more honest roots in Haitian Voodoo, as I learned from the PBS program African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross (specifically, the episode The Black Atlantic).
posted by filthy light thief at 8:43 AM on October 24, 2013 [2 favorites]

Nope, this one has more honest roots in Haitian Voodoo

Reading the headline, I had a fleeting vision of roving gangs of Yalies, led by the likes of John Kerry, George W. Bush, and Austan Goolsbee, descending on New Orleans for Mardi Gras.
posted by Doktor Zed at 8:51 AM on October 24, 2013 [2 favorites]

Man, I had no idea about this; the one time I was in New Orleans for Mardi Gras I slept late-ish. (Also, I was in a youth hostel in an outbuilding set back from the street so they probably didn't come to my door.)

My 50th Birthday falls on Mardi Gras proper whatever year that is, and I've thus been toying with rounding up a few friends and renting a house in New Orleans that week to throw myself the Mother Of All Birthday Parties; I'll keep this in mind when I'm picking a place.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:51 AM on October 24, 2013 [2 favorites]

From the "tradition lives on" link, the New Orleans Original Skull and Bone Gang - the North Side Skeletons have some links to other bone gangs, including the Skeleton Krewe, who were formed in 1999, and are more polished in appearance than the old (and some new) Skull and Bones gangs.
posted by filthy light thief at 9:18 AM on October 24, 2013 [1 favorite]

Paging komara! I believe he's in Skeleton Krewe.
posted by JauntyFedora at 9:29 AM on October 24, 2013

One of komara's Skeleton Krewe throws has a place of honor on my desk.
posted by The Whelk at 9:35 AM on October 24, 2013

I've never been a huge fan of people knocking on my door, but this - this I heartily approve of. There's not enough of this in the world. Memento fucking mori, bitches.

I was just saying last night that Halloween ought to come twice a year. Maybe I should reconsider that survey that told me to move to Maine and head South instead.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 9:44 AM on October 24, 2013 [1 favorite]

This is exactly the sort of tradition that makes me regret not studying folklore. I've been in New Orleans for Mardi Gras but I missed these guys. Obviously I will have to go back!
posted by WidgetAlley at 9:53 AM on October 24, 2013 [1 favorite]

So a few years ago, my then girlfriend(now wife) planned a trip to the New Oreleans. She was still in school so it was a 2 day trip. Within 48 hours we went from home to NOLA and back again. We planned this trip based solely on when she would have a free time from nursing school and that was our criteria. No other timing was considered.

Fast forward a month and we realized that we would be there directly to the start of Mardi Gras weekend. Score, that would be super neat to see.

Fast forward another month or so and the Saints end up going to the Super Bowl. We not being Handegg people we hadn't really put the timing together until the last week in January.

We then realized that if the Saints won, we would be going in between that and the start of the Mardi Gras. Added to us having previously(luckily) booked a room in a historic hotel in the French Quarter.

So to recap, We slept in the French Quarter of New Orleans a few weeks after the Saints won the Super Bowl and directly before Mardi Gras.

IT WAS DELIGHTFULLY CHAOTIC.

Since then New Orleans has become a regular vacation spot for us. So the next time we go around Mardi Gras maybe we'll get up early enough to see the Skull and Bones gang.
posted by Twain Device at 10:02 AM on October 24, 2013 [2 favorites]

So to recap, We slept in the French Quarter of New Orleans a few weeks after the Saints won the Super Bowl and directly before Mardi Gras. IT WAS DELIGHTFULLY CHAOTIC.

:-) The Mardi Gras trip I did take was also - well, it was close enough to my birthday that I cheated and said that it was that day (I was only off by 24 hours, let's pretend that it was the day my mother had gone into labor, eh?). It was the same year as the Zulu Krewe's 100th anniversary, which got me one of their coconuts - and someone else also tipped me off to the dollar bill on your shirt. So I had total strangers wishing me happy birthday all day, and people were giving me money and buying me drinks. On top of it being Mardi Gras already. At some point I ended up actually dancing on a bar top, showing 3 girls from Minnesota how to do the Time Warp.

So if you have the chance to do a birthday in New Orleans, do. But if you are lucky enough that your birthday can possibly fall on Mardi Gras, do that for the love of God.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:13 AM on October 24, 2013 [5 favorites]

IT WAS DELIGHTFULLY CHAOTIC.

That pretty much describes New Orleans anyhow. We booked a room for the french quarter the day we knew the Saints were going to the Super Bowl, because I wanted to be in the city if they won. It was delightfully awesome.
posted by justgary at 10:30 AM on October 24, 2013 [1 favorite]

100% American awesome.
posted by Miko at 3:41 PM on October 24, 2013

Haven't explored all the links yet, will save for tomorrow, but just want to say thanks filthy light thief -- because I love this post so much.
posted by madamjujujive at 8:44 PM on October 24, 2013