New Orleans couldn’t have asked for better weather for the last day of Jazz Fest 2026, and a lot of people were out taking advantage of it. The Fair Grounds were packed, and a long line doubling back down Fortin Street greeted me when I reached the Sauvage gate.
The entrance, though, spit me out right where I wanted to be: the Jazz & Heritage Stage to see the Chiefs of the Indian Nation. A Jazz Fest run isn’t complete without taking time to see a Black Masking Indian tribe demonstrating the culture’s traditional, percussion-and-vocals-focused music, the chants and songs you’d be lucky to find on a Mardi Gras morning. And this performance was something special.
The Chiefs of the Indian Nation included five leaders of tribes from across the city, all on stage together. There was Big Chief Terrance Mitchell of the Creole Wild West, Big Chief Juan Pardo of the Golden Comanche, Big Chief Shaka Zulu of the Golden Feather Hunters, Big Chief Troy Young of the Algiers Warriors and Big Chief Otto DeJean of the Hard Head Hunters, along with Spyboy Ricky Getteridge — a prominent elder in the Indian community — and backed by snare and tom drums…