Big Chief Dollis has passed. Our thoughts are with his friends and family
Big Chief Theodore “Bo” Dollis, who led the Wild Magnolia tribe for several decades and whose gritty voice helped introduce Mardi Gras Indian music to a worldwide audience, has died. He was 71. His death was announced Tuesday by the Mardi Gras Indian Hall of Fame. “It is with profound sadness that I must inform you of our newest ancestor. Big Chief Theodore ‘Bo’ Dollis passed this morning,” reads a message posted to the Hall of Fame’s Facebook page. “His wife, Big Queen Laurita Dollis, has requested prayers for the family and his soul at this time. Please honor her request and refrain from calls and text messages as she prepares for his public life celebration.” Dollis was born in New Orleans in 1944 and raised in Central City. He was fascinated by the Indian tribes in his neighborhood from a young age and masked for the first time at age 14. According to published reports, Dollis made his suit at a friend’s home because he didn’t want his family to know he had become...