[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_YkQ4uYLi0[/youtube]

Last Thursday, January 5, the New Orleans City Council proclaimed January 6—aka Twelfth Night, the beginning of Carnival—Allison “Big Chief Tootie” Montana Day in honor of the Yellow Pocahontas Mardi Gras Indian Big Chief, who passed away in the summer of 2005.

The following day, on Friday, January 6, friends and family members of Big Chief Tootie Montana met at the statue of his likeness in Armstrong Park for a wreath-laying ceremony in his honor. Photographer Kim Welsh, a frequent OffBeat contributor, captured the ceremony on video, showing the group chanting “Indian Red” and sharing words about Big Chief Tootie.