America ReFramed

Big Chief, Black Hawk

By Jonathan Isaac Jackson

Big Chief Tee is a high school senior and the youngest Mardi Gras Indian Big Chief in New Orleans. During COVID-19, he and the Black Hawk Hunters navigate the impacts of gentrification and systemic racism on their annual masking tradition. Through haute couture, movement, and words, BIG CHIEF, BLACK HAWK celebrates the beauty and resilience of “the culture” even in the face of crisis and change.

MEET THE MAKERS: BIG CHIEF, BLACK HAWK

Big Chief, Black Hawk filmmaker Jonathan Isaac Jackson, producer Paul Fishback and special guests Big Chief Tee and Tinice Williams discuss the culture of the Mardi Gras Masking Indians and how the New Orleans Black community's traditions are carried on through hardship and social change.