Forty life-size buffalo puppets will stampede through the streets of Brooklyn next Saturday in one of the largest public art spectacles in the country this year.
Over 100 volunteers from across the United States will operate the herd as it moves from Abolitionist Place in Downtown Brooklyn to Brooklyn Bridge Park. The puppets, made from recycled materials like plywood, metal and burlap, stand seven feet tall and nine feet long — roughly the size of an adult buffalo. It takes three people to run one buffalo: two inside, one alongside.
“Return of the Buffalo: Tatanka Owe Akupi,” produced by St. Ann’s Warehouse, The Walk Productions and KBH Arts, in partnership with elders from Lenape and Lakota Tribes, will run for two days.
On Friday, Sept. 18, the herd will walk Lower Manhattan from 5 to 7:30 p.m., starting at Bowling Green Park and finishing in Foley Square. On Saturday, Sept. 19, it will cross the river for the Brooklyn leg, marching from 2 to 4:30 p.m.
Along the way, the herd will be joined by dance troupes, actors, artists, civic leaders and marching bands, stopping at sites they say are historically significant. Organizers say the idea is for viewers to walk alongside the herd as it moves through the streets.
The title of the event is Lakota, though the Lenape inhabited New York. Organizers say “Tatanka Owe Akupi” is a Lakota phrase that roughly translates to “buffalo trail home” — tatanka for the animal; owe for a trail or set of footprints; akupi for returning, and also for healing.
They chose Lakota, rather than Lenape, because of the long relationship between Lakota people and the buffalo, and say they worked with Lenape members to keep that history in the piece as well.
The herd number isn’t arbitrary. Producers say the 40 puppets stand for the “38+2” — the Dakota men executed in Mankato, Minnesota, in December 1862 in the largest single-day mass execution in American history, plus two more executed later.
Bison, the national mammal of the United States, were critical to Indigenous peoples. In 1870, an estimated eight million bison roamed the United States. Twenty years later, that number dwindled to fewer than 500, following the mass slaughter of bison by European settlers.
Today, Native nations are leading the animal’s return. The InterTribal Buffalo Council, formed in 1991, now counts more than 80 member tribes across some 20 states and helps manage over 20,000 buffalo, moving animals from national parks to tribal lands. Jason Baldes, who runs the Wind River Tribal Buffalo Initiative in Wyoming, is among the tribal members taking part in the New York events.
The walk is a chance for New Yorkers to “reflect and appreciate nature, our land and our power to heal and renew,” said Susan Feldman, founder and artistic director of St. Ann’s Warehouse, in a statement. The buffalo’s story, she said, is one of near extinction followed by a long effort to bring the animal back. “It represents the worst of us and the best of us.”
Heights Happenings
112 Montague St. has been vacant for 14 years as the building’s landlord continues searching for the “perfect” tenant, The Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported.
The Underground Thrift Store in Plymouth Church is reopening for the fall/winter season on Sept. 13. The store donates 25% of its proceeds to organizations that fight human trafficking.
Brooklyn Bridge Park is building a new education center at 334 Furman St., with an interactive exhibition and more space for student programs. BBP is accepting donations for the new center.
The Brooklyn Heights Association is looking for volunteers to help clean out the community fridge on Henry Street. Sign up for shifts here.
Darling Shop at 149 Atlantic Ave. is having a backyard sale with Samantha Pleet, where you can shop Samantha’s personal collection of vintage and designer clothes, on Sept. 11 and 12 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Hatchet Outdoor Supply Co. at 77 Atlantic Ave. is having an opening night party to celebrate Scandinavian mountaineering equipment company Klättermusen’s four-month takeover of the store on Sept. 11 from 5 to 9 p.m. The party, presented by Amateurs Magazine, will have food from Decades Pizza and Mama Yoshi Mini Mart.
Brooklyn Bridge Park is hosting a catch and release fishing event on Sept. 12 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Pier 5 fishing stations.
Montague Open Streets starts again on Sept. 13. This Sunday will be a back-to-school party from noon to 4 p.m., best for kids up to 12.
Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor will be discussing their new book, “End Times Fascism: And the Fight for the Living World,” with The New Yorker staff writer Jia Tolentino at St. Ann & the Holy Trinity Church on Sept. 15 from 7 to 8 p.m.
Multimedia artist Anita Glesta is bringing an immersive video art projection to the Brooklyn Bridge. The 18-minute projection will premiere in Emily Warren Roebling Plaza on Sept. 25 and Sept. 26 from 7 to 10 p.m.
Vintage retailer Twice Desired is having a pop-up sidewalk sale outside The Breukelen at 57 Montague St. on Sept. 26, starting at 10 a.m.
Nearby News
There may be a Happier Grocery coming to Carroll Gardens. A newly formed company linked to the grocery retailer recently purchased the former Rite Aid site on Smith Street for $21.5 million.
Private equity giant Carlyle Group has been snapping up small multifamily buildings in Brooklyn, including in Carroll Gardens and Cobble Hill, Crain’s reported. The firm has purchased roughly $90 million in apartments over the past year.
Neighbors in Brooklyn Navy Yard are fed up with noise from the late-night parties and raves going on in the development. “I don’t want to sound like some curmudgeon,” Councilmember Lincoln Restler told Gothamist. “But I don’t find these events to be consistent with the core mission of the Yard.”
Emma Cline, author of “The Girls” and “The Guest,” will be discussing her new novel, “Switzy,” at McNally Jackson at 1 Dekalb Ave. tonight from 7 to 8 p.m.
Outline’s fall/winter catalog is coming out soon. Subscribe here to receive it at home.
City & Courts
A Downtown Brooklyn man was sentenced to 13 years for robbing three people at gunpoint in four days. The robberies took place in Downtown Brooklyn, Fort Greene and Clinton Hill, the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office said.