When Allison "Tootie" Montana sits down in his kitchen at the end of a day, it's not long before geometric patterns start to dance around his head. He sketches these into his notebook, and he and his wife, Joyce, spend the rest of the year painstakingly sewing the designs into Montana's new suit.

The Big Chief of the Yellow Pocahontas has been masking Indian for 46 years, and his unique, "Downtown-style" costumes are arguably the most beautiful in the city. It's been said that Tootie's gra...