They are revelers of a different sort during the Feb. 5 Mardi Gras celebration, suiting up in colorful, extravagant costumes and swaggering through New Orleans as part of a tradition dating to the mid-1800s.
They aren't Native Americans, but mostly African-Americans who perform the ritual as a tribute to the Chickasaw, Choctaw and other American Indian tribes that once sheltered runaway slaves.
As far as I'm concerned, these people are stereotyping Indians just like faux-Native mascots stereotype Indians. For more on the subject, see Mardi Gras: "To be an Indian is a very special calling."
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