Turquoise Dreams: A Soul-Stitched Tribute to the Spirit of Flagboy Lil Ham

By James Jimmy

Zulu Parade Day has a certain kind of rhythm to it. You can feel it before you even hear the drums—the energy in the air shifts. The streets start humming with that familiar electricity, the kind that pulls you out of your body and into something much bigger. That morning, I found myself on Second and Dryades, right outside Sportsman’s Corner Bar and Daiquiri Shop—not by chance, but by instinct.

That corner ain’t just concrete—it’s sacred ground. It’s where the Black Masking Indians meet tribe to tribe, spirit to spirit, before the world wakes up. The colors, the beadwork, the feathers catching sunlight—it wasn’t just a beautiful sight, it was a feeling. And when Flagboy Lil Ham stepped out in his new suit—bold turquoise laced with gold—I knew I had to find a way to bring this moment to life. Not just in memory, but in motion.

That moment sparked something in me, something deep. I reached out to Adam, Sydd, and Jae—artists in their own right, whose eyes know how to capture spirit—and we started building the vision together. I hit up Flagboy Lil Ham, told him what I wanted to do. I didn’t just want to document a suit. I wanted to honor the spirit, the sacred culture, the ancestral voice that speaks when the Indians step out. Because when you hear that call echo down the street, you already know what time it is.

This year, Lil Ham’s suit is called Turquoise Dreams. And like he said, “This ain’t just a suit. It’s a sacred story.” Every bead stitched is a memory. Every feather a promise. Every thread a tether between generations.

The suit was hand-sewn in tribute to his little brother, “Steve “Lil Man”, who masked for six straight years with the Creole Wild West under Big Chief Walter Cook. Lil Ham was there for every step, every year, watching his brother shine—until one day, Lil Man told him,

“Now it’s your turn. Go for it.”

And he did.

In 2022, after the world was still catching its breath from the pandemic, Lil Ham stepped into the streets as Flagboy with Big Chief Jeremy Lacen of the Black Flame Hunters. Now, five years in, he’s walking tall with the Golden Eagles under the legendary Big Chief Monk Boudreaux. That gold running through his suit? That’s the pride of the tribe. That’s tradition sewn into skin.

What I admire most about Lil Ham is how deeply he honors the old school. He’s a young flagboy, yes—but his soul is seasoned. He makes his suits the way the elders did. Every bead placed with intention. Every feather carrying weight. His work speaks not just for himself, but for the ones who came before him and the ones still walking beside him.

He told me his favorite part of the process is decorating—that’s when the vision becomes real, when the spirit fully steps in. You can see it when he works. It’s not just hands stitching—it’s something greater moving through him.

And that spirit didn’t come from nowhere. He’s a protégé of Big Chief Bruce Gaten, the legendary chief of Creole Wild West in the 1980s. Big Chief Bruce mentors Lil Ham with that same old-school wisdom, telling him to walk in greatness. And he does—every Mardi Gras, every moment, every stitch.

Turquoise Dreams isn’t just a suit.

It’s love. It’s grief. It’s fire.

It’s what happens when art, history, and spirit walk the same road.

This collaboration—between artists, community, and tradition—is a love letter to New Orleans. To those who mask. To those who know the weight of the culture. And to those who feel the call when it hits the air.

Because when the Indians come…

you feel it in your soul.