I'm an Indian ruler from the Thirteenth Ward

Blood shief-a-oona I won't

Be barred

I walked through fire and I swam

Through mud

Snatched the feathers from an eagle

Drank panther blood

This kind of tall taletelling has always been a part of American culture, most recently echoed in rock & roll by the likes of Bo Diddley and Bob Dylan. In New Orleans, a city rivaled only by New York in its ability to absorb...