NEW ORLEANS - The Treme neighborhood was awoken by the Skull and Bones Gang on Tuesday morning, signaling the official start to Mardi Gras Day. 

The people, dressed as skeletons, walked out of the I Am That I Am Church to a crowd of more than a hundred revelers waiting in the dark to see the century-old tradition. 

The Skull and Bones Gang chants "You next!" and sings as they walk through the neighborhood. 

Their costumes are a homage to the ancestors that came before, and a reminder that revelers are mortal and do not have everlasting life.