About chief Joseph's suit

A Suit Unlike Any Other

The suit worn by Big Chief Joseph Boudreaux Jr. is not a costume. It is a sacred suit of honor, handmade from scratch every year with meticulous care. Suits are constructed anew annually; no two are alike, and none are typically worn again after Mardi Gras season. Every detail is intentional, each bead and feather tells a story.

To see the suit is to witness a living sculpture in motion. But to understand the suit is to know the weight of its history, the pain it remembers, and the joy it radiates. Whether on stage or in the streets, Big Chief Joseph Boudreaux Jr.’s presence in suit reminds us that culture is not costume — it is memory, movement, and medicine.

A Living Legacy of Resistance and Radiance

In the heart of New Orleans, a sacred tradition pulses through the city streets each Mardi Gras morning. This is the world of the Black Masking Indians — a cultural practice deeply rooted in honor, resistance, ancestral pride, and art. For Big Chief Joseph Boudreaux Jr. of the Young Eagles, the suit is more than attire. It is a living, breathing embodiment of history, spirit, and story.

The Black Masking Indian tradition dates back over a century, born from the solidarity between African Americans and Native Americans — two peoples who shared histories of oppression, survival, and defiant beauty. During a time when African Americans were excluded from mainstream Mardi Gras celebrations, this tradition emerged as a profound way to reclaim space and celebrate freedom through their own forms of pageantry and power.

Donate to the Suit-Making Process

You can make a difference! Be an important part of Big Chief Joseph Boudreaux Jr. and The Young Eagles tribe continuing a 150 year old tradition. Every year Big Chief Joseph Boudreaux Jr. painstakingly designs and builds his suit to carry on the tradition, bead by bead and feather by feather.

To better understand the physical labor and monetary commitment that goes into a single suit, you should know...

The supplies alone can run $10,000
It takes up to 7,000 hours of labor from design to completion
Each suit has 500,000-1,000,000 hand-stitched beads
& 5+ lbs of feathers

Contribute today

The Making of the Suit

The process of building a new suit begins shortly after the previous Mardi Gras ends. It is a year-long labor of devotion. Each suit is designed and stitched by hand, often by the Chief himself, family members, and trusted tribe artisans.

Creating a full suit can take 5,000 to 7,000 hours of handwork over the year — the equivalent of several full-time jobs. For Chiefs like Joseph Boudreaux Jr., this work is done late into the night, all while juggling family, music, and leadership responsibilities.

A single suit may contain between 500,000 to over 1 million individual glass beads, each hand-stitched into intricate, story-rich designs. These beads form panels depicting legends, history, nature, and spiritual symbols unique to the tribe and the Chief’s message that year.

The suit is built layer by layer with canvas panels, velvet, rhinestones, ostrich and turkey feathers, sequins, jewels, wire, cardboard, and hand-dyed elements. The resulting ensemble includes an elaborate crown, chest plate, back piece, apron, leggings, and arm pieces — sometimes standing over 10 feet tall when fully assembled.

Tradition, Rank, and Right

Not just anyone can wear the suit. The Black Masking Indian tradition is inherited and earned — it is rooted in community, respect, and lineage. Within each tribe, there are designated roles:

Big Chief – The leader and storyteller of the tribe
Spy Boy – The front scout, first to encounter rival tribes or police
Flag Boy – The communicator between Spy Boy and Chief, ensuring safe passage through the streets
Wild Man – The fierce protector and enforcer
Big Queen – Female leader supporting Big Chief who represents elegance, strength, and spiritual presence