Research and Background
The Nacirema tribe and their strange behaviors were first documented by Horace Miner in “The Body Ritual Among the Nacirema” in 1956. Considerable effort has been extended to the study of this most unusual tribe in the years that followed and many print articles and lectures were devoted to trying to understand these people and their strange customs. Recently, many new research techniques combined with a host of motivated anthropologists and a fresh source of both corporate donations and governmental funds have uncovered new information about the Nacirema. Although there are hundreds or perhaps thousands of Nacirema rituals, ceremonies, and practices that merit intense study and analysis, the focus of this research paper is perhaps one of the most bizarre and poorly understood of all their rituals.
This ritual has it’s roots in many different cultures dispersed across the world dating back hundreds of years. This most interesting ritual has been celebrated in a very concentrated region of Nacirema for hundreds of years located in a few costal cities north of the body of water “Gulf of the Land of Maize”. Although this ritual is celebrated to some degree in selected Nacirema cities of this region, the epicenter of this ritual and it’s many strange customs is the city that straddles the end of the big river Ojibwe. This city is “Crescent City”, aptly named for the villages of the city that followed the curvature of the big river Ojibwe.
Once per year in the third month when the Spring season begins to spread across Nacimera, tens of thousands descend upon the Crescent City and join with the local inhabitants to celebrate the ritual known as Mardi Gras. This paper will serve as an introduction to this ritual including an explanation of the some of the elements of the ritual, some of the history and origins of these elements, discussion of the symbolism surrounding the event, and finally any resultant stereotypes of the Nacimera people that may exist because of the ritual.

The Ritual of Mardi Gras
The strange ritual of Mardi Gras is celebrated just prior to the forty day period of “Lent”. During this forty-day period of Lent, starting on Ash Wednesday and ending on Easter Sunday, many people of Nacirema who worship a particular god in a particular church, choose to refrain from selected indulgences (for example alcohol, sex, eating animal flesh, etc.) as a symbol of devotion to this god and religion. The Mardi Gras ritual is the opportunity and excuse for all citizens of Crescent City, regardless of religious affiliation, to overindulge in pleasurable pastimes one last time before entering the forty day period of Lent. The culmination of Mardi Gras is on the eve of Ash Wednesday and is known as “Fat Tuesday” in honor of the bingeing and excess indulgence that typically takes place. Mardi Gras has it’s roots in far away counties that celebrated the event hundreds of years before the land of Nacimera existed and was known as “Carnival” from the Latin word camelevarium – to remove meat.
One of the most widely attended and symbolic events surrounding the ritual is the Mardi Gras parade. For hundreds of years, citizens of Crescent City have formed various clubs, or “krewes” that are instrumental in the Mardi Gras parade. These krewes assemble and adorn platforms with colorful decorations and ride on these platforms as they are pulled throughout city on a predetermined route that is lined with rowdy spectators. The majority of the spectators are highly intoxicated giving the entire event a party-like atmosphere that lasts for many hours, late into the night and often early into the next morning. Typically, each krewe appoints a symbolic “King” and “Queen” for the event that hold no political power but are very important for the Mardi Gras events and parade. The King and Queen ride on the most ornately adorned platform and are meant to symbolize actual ruling royalty from foreign countries holding Carnival, long before Nacimera existed. After the parade, this symbolic King and Queen then host an invitation-only masquerade ball in which the identity of attendees is obscured by costumes and ornate masks (usually covered with colorful feathers). These masquerade balls, of which attendance is highly sought, are typically formal events that feature live music and dancing. Over time, the brightly colored feathered mask migrated out of the masquerade hall and onto the street for the general public, with many spectators wearing the masks during the parade and other Mardi Gras events. The Mardi Gras mask is one of the most recognized symbols of the ritual today.
Masks, decorated platforms, invitations, and many other items associated with this ritual are typically colored purple, green and gold. Purple is symbolic of Justice, Green for faith and Gold represents power. The origins of these colors and their symbolic meaning are based on one of the most famous krewes “Rex” that was founded in 1872. The Rex Organization used these colors in their coat of arms. Over time these colors and their meanings became synonymous with the ritual of Mardi Gras.
One of the most interesting aspects of the Mardi Gras parade ritual is that the people riding on the decorated platforms hurl various artifacts into the crowd. These artifacts are highly sought after by the spectators on the parade route but most of the artifacts are cheap plastic necklaces and worthless, only to be discarded the next day. As outlined by Miner in “The Body Ritual Among the Nacirema”, even though the Nacirema are a highly private tribe regarding nudity and bodily functions, some of the female spectators will actually expose their bare breasts to the public in an attempt to obtain these artifacts, usually with a high degree of success. The origin and symbology of throwing artifacts at the crowd is rooted in several traditions. Many years ago, a krewe used a member dressed as Santa Claus who threw small trinkets at the children. Another explanation is that this tradition relates to peasants throwing seed grains into fields in the spring as a thank you to the land for providing sustenance from the fertile soil. A final explanation of this strange practice relates to medieval royalty hurling ale at onlookers, as they progressed through the town’s streets. Throwing artifacts is another act that is synonymous with the Mardi Gras ritual.
While most of the artifacts hurled at spectators are of little value, one is highly sought after and quite rare to receive at this ritual. One of the most prized possessions that is thrown is an engraved and decoratively painted coconut from the Zulu tribe, and African American krewe, in response to the Caucasian krewes throwing necklaces. Zulu originally hurled walnuts that could be cracked and eaten but later transitioned to coconuts. It is believed that the practice of throwing walnuts and later coconuts was a less expensive alternative to the costly glass beads originally thrown by the more affluent Caucasian krewes in the early days of the ritual hundreds of years ago.
The ritual of Mardi Gras has many more elements too numerous to mention in the confines of this research paper but a final one is worthy of note. Many citizens of Crescent City, in the days leading up to Fat Tuesday, will produce and consume a foodstuff known as King Cake. These cakes are very common and are usually an oval ring of baked dough and sweet spices decorated with the traditional colors of Mardi Gras – purple, green, and gold. These cakes are shared in groups with family and friends at home, schools, and places of business. Strangely, each cake usually has a small plastic baby Jesus baked into it and the person who received this piece of cake is said to be blessed with good luck in the coming year, and also has the task of bringing the king cake to the ritual the next year. This King Cake tradition is carried over from an ancient story several hundred years old from the celebration of Magi where the three Kings came to visit the newly born baby Jesus.

Stereotypes of the Ritual of Mardi Gras
Stereotypes are over generalized assumptions by an individual that each and every member of a particular group all have the same beliefs, habits, and attributes of the group. One common stereotype of the ritual of Mardi Gras is that the event is one giant drunken party. While the event does in fact involve excess indulgence in alcohol, the formal masquerade balls and sharing of the King Cake typically would not involve alcohol.
Another potential stereotype is that all citizens of the Crescent City participate in the ritual. Although widely celebrated by many people, there is a contingent of the population that has no desire to embrace the ritual and ignores all the events and activities. Since the Mardi Gras ritual immediately proceeds an important religious event for a particular religion, persons of differing religions may choose to not participate in elements of the ritual.
Finally, another stereotype may be that people of Nacirema who participate in the many events surrounding the Mardi Gras ritual are weird, act in strange ways, and eat unusual foods, with the only logical conclusion being that they are all somewhat insane. By studying some of the symbols, history, and origins of the storied Mardi Gras ritual, one can more easily understand and appreciate these behaviors by citizens who choose to participate in it. This seemingly strange behavior by some individuals celebrating the ritual may initially mystify archeologists, but with research and knowledge of the origins of the ritual comes appreciation and understanding of the behaviors.

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References

Becknell, C & Price, T. & Short, D & Williams, M. (n.d.). The History of Zulu Coconuts. Mardi Gras Digest.Com. Retrieved on March 4, 2011 from http://www.mardigrasdigest.com/html/zulu_coconuts.htm
Hardy, A. (n.d.). History of Mardi Gras. New Orleans Online. Retrieved on March 4, 2011 from http://www.neworleansonline.com/neworleans/mardigras/mardigrashistory/mghistory.html
Mardi Gras. (n.d.). History.com. Retrieved on March 4, 2011 from http://www.history.com/topics/mardi-gras
Mardi Gras: The Throws, The Balls, and the Music. (n.d.). Novareinna.com. Retrieved on March 4, 2011 from http://www.novareinna.com/festive/throw.html
Mardi Gras Parades. (n.d.). Holidays on the Net. Retrieved on March 3, 2011 from http://www.holidays.net/mardigras/parades.htm
Mississippi River. (n.d.). Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved on March 3, 2011 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississippi_River
Rex: King of Carnival. (n.d.). Rexorganazition.com. Retrieved on March 4, 2011 http://www.rexorganization.com/History/