Bury the Hatchet
Celebrate Mardi Gras at the library with three of New Orleans' Indian Chiefs in the new award-winning documentary by Aaron Walker. Bury the Hatchet features three Mardi Gras Indian Chiefs in a dynamic and intimate portrait of the unique, endangered and often hidden New Orleans experience they represent.
WINNER! Grand Prize Award & Intangible Culture Award at the Royal Anthropological Institute's Festival of Ethnographic Film, and Best Louisiana Feature at the New Orleans Film Festival
About the film
Bury the Hatchet is a portrait of three Mardi Gras Indian “Big Chiefs” of New Orleans, descendants of runaway slaves taken in by the Native Americans of the Louisiana bayous. Once plagued by intertribal violence, today these African American tribes take to the backstreets of New Orleans on Mardi Gras, dressed in elaborate Native American influenced costumes that they sew over the course of
the year. When tribes meet instead of attacking each other with hatchets and knives, they battle over which Chief has the prettiest suit.
The film follows the Mardi Gras Indians over the course of five years, both pre and post Hurricane Katrina, and is an exploration of their art and philosophies, as well as their struggles within their communities: harassment by the police, violence amongst themselves, gentrification of their neighborhoods, disinterested youth, old age and natural disaster.
Filmmaker Aaron Walker gained intimate entry into this often hidden New Orleans experience and discovered not only a fascinating and beautiful culture but endearing characters and a truly dramatic narrative. The film is the story of the unique and endangered culture of New Orleans they represent as bearers of tradition, artists, musicians, and warriors who have laid down their weapons, but not their determination to survive as a people. With a celebratory soundtrack of New Orleans music and additional scoring by pianist George Winston, the film is an intimate entry into this often hidden New Orleans experience.
Distributed by 7th Arts Releasing.
Watch the trailer
Run time: 86 min.
About the Director: Aaron C. Walker
Aaron C. Walker has worked extensively in the New Orleans documentary and music community, having worked as cinematographer, and director and editor on projects with The Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Marianne Faithfull, Buckwheat Zydeco, Allen Toussaint, John Scofield, and others. He has directed music videos for The Blind Boys of Alabama, Pearl Jam, Timothea, Ozlem Tekin and others. He has filmed and edited behind-the-scenes featurettes for films such as The Dukes of Hazzard and the Burt Reynolds feature Deal. A graduate of The American University of Paris with a B.A. in European History, he also has an M.F.A. in Film from The University of New Orleans.