'Cinq-sous pour les Mardi Gras'

This is presented annually as a welcome to the visitors of our fair city who are here for the Mardi Gras festivities:

It’s Mardi Gras time! There are those who do and those who don’t: take part or otherwise, BUT, I’ve got this notion, that at my age, my clock’s a-ticking and if I’ve got any laughing to do, I’d better get with the program or else the parades’ gonna pass me by. I do Mardi Gras.
Two generations before me have done it, in addition to the three generations after me that are now participating. That’s six generations of good times with good friends and family. And laughter to last beyond it all. You can’t buy stuff like that.
Mardi Gras is French for Fat Tuesday and is the final day of fun and feasting before the fasting of the Lenten season begins. It is a movable feast, the day before Ash Wednesday. The Christian Holy Day of Easter is set to coincide with the first full moon following the Spring Equinox; Mardi Gras is 46 days preceding Easter - 40 days and 6 Sundays. Movable feast indeed! It not only moves all over the calendar; here, it moves all over the countryside.
Mardi Gras may occur any Tuesday from February 3 through March 9. The carnival season can thus range in duration from 28 to 63 days. Now that’s a party season!
The first mention of Mardi Gras in Eunice was in the CROWLEY SIGNAL in February of 1896. The article made mention of the fact that the Mardi Gras came to town and made general mischief for the merchants in the vicinity.
Since then, it’s been full speed ahead. Mardi Gras has been celebrated continuously since, with a break during World War II when so few men were left to participate. Those who didn’t get called up, signed up and the women were left to manage alone until they returned.
The Mardi Gras celebration took a back seat to survival but was revived in all its glory in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s.
Mardi Gras in America can be traced to the year 1699 when the French explorer Iberville found himself at the mouth of the Mississippi River on Mardi Gras, a day when festivities were being held back in his native country, so he did likewise here.
Mardi Gras was celebrated in New Orleans and Mobile as early as the 1770’s but could not be contained in those areas and made its way to our area as well. Thank goodness!
Mardi Gras is a combination of ancient religious rites and customs, spreading to the New World, then intermingling with aspects of Native American, then African cultures to provide an experience rarely found anywhere else on earth.
It is celebrated today in the rural prairie parishes of southwest Louisiana much as it was hundreds of years ago.
It is celebrations such as these that are a traditional link to the cultural past of the people of our area, however varied.
In this part of Louisiana, the “Courir de Mardi Gras” is a festivity steeped in medieval history. The “Run” is a gathering of people in traditional costumes: pants and shirts adorned with fringed material. This is topped with a “Capuchon”, a tall cone-shaped hat decorated much like the costumes.
The Capuchon is one of the three accepted head dresses for Cajun Mardi Gras. The other two are the Bishop’s Mitre and the Scholar’s Mortarboard. All three of these styles came to this country with the celebration itself.
Some revelers have been heard to sing a little song about “petite capuchon, tous pointue”. Jingle bells are also attached to the costume, making it impossible for a Mardi Gras to sneak up behind you. Ironic! You disguise yourself to go unnoticed, then sew bells on to draw attention to yourself. Go figure!
Note: locally, costumes and capuchons are never done in specific colors, as materials used were usually scraps of seed sacks left over from daily use.
The colors purple, green and gold have represented the Krewe of Rex in New Orleans since 1872 and have become standard for the celebration of carnival in most places.
Purple stands for justice; green for faith; gold for power. Purists in Cajun folklore would rather not see Cajun costumes done in those three colors. By doing so, you water down both cultures.
Masks are made from window screen and painted to defuse the facial features. The earliest mention of the manufacture of screen was in the early 1860’s in Austria.
The earliest ad that I have for the purchase of these masks was in a wholesale catalog dated 1877. To my way of thinking, Cajuns looked at those store-bought masks and decided that they could make these masks, and did.
They have been making these masks in this area since the turn of the century: circa 1900. We began our trek into the culture in the early 1970’s.
Older customs required total, absolute masking, to the point that members of the same family were not recognizable to each other. Today there are many instances of the same thing happening, as well as the trick of two Mardi Gras’ exchanging costumes to fool friends and family alike.
Masking offers revelers a chance to throw caution to the wind, if only for one day. Some maskers do not speak or remove their masks and may go all day without doing so.
Gloves are worn to disguise hands. I have dressed and costumed husbands whose wives never recognized them, sisters who fooled their brothers and fathers who weren’t too sure which Mardi Gras was their own son.
Participants gather at a specific place at an appointed time. Runners are on horseback and more recently, hay wagons. The troop gathers at daybreak, led by a “Capitaine” wearing a long cape, carrying an honors flag and riding lead horse. It is he who approaches rural farm houses to ask permission for the runners to approach, dismount and dance.
In return, the farmer provides a chicken for the runners to chase, in hopes of adding it to the gumbo at the end of the day.
After the chase, everyone remounts and rides to the next stop to the strains of good Cajun music provided by local musicians, the music played as old as the celebration itself.
Music was, and still, is a very integral part of any Cajun gathering, especially Mardi Gras. The tune and words of the Mardi Gras song also date back several hundred years.
This procedure is repeated throughout the day and the runners become more nimble as the day progresses. They are aided by the Cajun version of a chuck wagon which carries an abundance of cold drinks and boudin for the revelers.
The true spectacle of it all is enhanced by the fact that most riders haven’t ridden a horse all year or never even ridden a horse to begin with and the horses more than likely haven’t been ridden all year, so there is usually a difference of opinion before the day even begins.
The day’s run usually ends with a parade through town. Revelers will work the crowds along the route, crying “cinq-sous pour les Mardi Gras” - a nickel for the Mardi Gras.
One need not speak to get the message across. Simply pointing to the palm of the hand will suffice.
This is followed by street dancing, then on to the gumbo made from the day’s spoils. Dancing and eating will continue only until midnight, since that is when Lent begins.
Forty or fifty years ago, only men were allowed to run. When and if the women ran, they did so separately, on the Sunday before.
Today, surrounding communities have different traditions: only men, only women, runs on Saturday, Sunday, or Tuesday. Some on horseback, some in trucks, some on wagons.
In Eunice, everyone runs together on Mardi Gras day. It has grown to be one of the largest celebrations in this part of the state and those who take part are a catalyst in teaching people from all over the globe, who visit here, what a joy it is to be Cajun!
Locally, a children’s run has taken the place of the old women’s run on the Sunday before Mardi Gras, in addition to a multitude of activities held in all of the area schools.
Many area towns have increased the activities for children and will be the reason why so many youngsters will grow up to carry on the tradition.
The day after Mardi Gras, Ash Wednesday, is the beginning of the Lenten season and begins with the receiving of ashes at church, followed by the nursing of both body and soul for the next few days.
Most take on a penance curtailing self-indulgence of one sort or another for Lent. This is made more tolerable by the memories of a good Mardi Gras.
Weird as all this must seem, this is what instills the native “joie de vivre” - joy of living - in all who partake of what Louisiana has to offer.
Regardless of your cultural background or history, family or religious traditions, what is of the utmost importance is that you pass it on to the younger generation.
How can any of us know where we’re going if we don’t know where we came from?
Culturally speaking, of course!

Georgie Manuel.
February 15, 2015