World's Most Interesting Places Vol. 14 | 60 Minutes Full Episodes
In a Nutshell
Mardi Gras Indian tribes in New Orleans preserve a 200-year-old tradition of hand-sewn suits and mock battles that originated as resistance to slavery and cultural erasure, with Big Chiefs like Monk and Deman devoting their lives to keeping it alive despite gentrification and natural disasters. In Cape Town, orcas named Port and Starboard are systematically killing great white sharks for their livers, forcing the sharks offshore and potentially destabilizing local populations already weakened by commercial fishing. Hang Son Doong in Vietnam, the world's largest cave passage at 5.6 miles long and 65 stories high, was discovered by a villager and explored by British cavers, while Colombia's bird diversity has become an economic driver through ecotourism that emerged after the 2016 peace deal ended decades of conflict that had inadvertently protected forest habitats.
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Every year on Mardi Gras morning, groups of Black revelers most tourists will never see emerge from the back streets of New Orleans. They call themselves Mardi Gras Indians or Black masking Indians and roam the city's neighborhoods in dazzling hand-sewn suits. The tradition dates to the 1800s as a way to honor their ancestors and is rooted in profound respect for Native Americans said to have sheltered enslaved Africans who had escaped. It is an expression of joy, protest, and pride passed from generation to generation.
The suits are handcrafted in secret for an entire year to be unveiled on Mardi Gras day. The leader is known as the Big Chief who, along with his Big Queen and their crew, strut through historically Black neighborhoods searching for other tribes. When Big Chiefs meet, they square off in mock battle competing to show whose suit is the prettiest.
"When I put that suit on, I'm Big Chief Deman. Call it. Is that different from the Deman who's sitting here in front of me now? Yes, indeed."
Big Chief Deman and his wife Alicia sew beads the size of chia seeds on canvas and stitch rhinestones in place with dental floss. This year's suit tells the story of the Amistad, a slave ship seized by captive Africans in 1839. The panel shows when the Africans won their freedom in a case that went to the US Supreme Court, including John Quincy Adams as one of the lawyers. Big Chief Deman works from 6:00 in the morning to 12 at night every day. This year's suit cost $25,000.
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