Demond Melancon was born and raised in New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward. As a child, he recalls watching the Black Maskers perform and was brought further into culture through friends. It wasn’t until Big Chief Ferdinand Bigard of the Cheyenne Black Indians that Melancon learned the “needle dance.” In 1993, Melancon received a Louisiana Folklife Apprenticeship Grant to work with Nathanial “Nat” Williams and to perfect his craft. Melancon started as a Spy Boy, a figure who would be at the front of the Big Chief’s procession, observing and calling out the advancement of rival tribes. In 2012, the elders of the Black Masking community declared that Melancon would then be known as Big Chief Demond Melancon of the Young Seminole Hunters, his very own tribe based in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans where he grew up.

Within the Black Masking community, the chiefs enter ceremonial battles to see who has the “prettiest suit.” Taking up to a year to create, the suits reflect distinct tribal sewing techniques. Melancon’s suits typically contain over 1 million glass beads (he is known for using a smaller bead size most other maskers) and can be over 50 inches wide. Over the past five years, Melancon has developed an emerging contemporary art practice using the same beading techniques to portraiture.