Musicians and Mardi Gras Indians will gather at the New Orleans Jazz Museum on Tuesday from 5 to 7 p.m., to perform in honor of Darryl Montana, a revered Big Chief who is battling cancer. The free Black Masking Indian concert will be accompanied by a 50/50 raffle, with half the proceeds from ticket sales to be awarded as a prize, and the other half going to help pay Montana’s medical bills.
Last fall, the 70-year-old leader of the Yellow Pocahontas tribe of Black Masking Indians fell ill. Montana said he was worried that the vague pains in his chest meant he was having heart problems. But that wasn’t the diagnosis. Doctors told the Big Chief that he was suffering from leukemia. On further examination, they concluded he also had Stage 4 lung cancer, which had spread to a rib.
Weeks of chemotherapy and torturous side effects followed, which Montana described as “hell on earth.” And that was only part of the hellishness. Sure, he has Medicare, Montana said, but there are still co-payments and other expenses that have piled up.
Montana said he once got a bill for an astonishing $72,000. Like the rest of the bills, he said, he just paid his part. But in semi-retirement, on a fixed income, his money was soon spent…