RETURN OF THE BUFFALO: TATANKA OWE AKUPI

About the show

Over two days in September 2026, fifty life-size buffalo puppets will move through downtown Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan in a large-scale public art event. Created by Amir Nizar Zuabi in partnership with Lenape and Lakota tribal elders, the spectacle combines performance, ceremony, and live music as the herd encounters poets, dancers, gospel choirs, and marching bands at historically significant locations. The puppetry, designed by South African company Ukwanda Puppets, draws inspiration from the buffalo's recovery from near extinction to repopulation. Free and non-ticketed, the event marks one of the year's largest public art projects in the United States, uniting civic leaders, prominent musicians, and tribal ceremonies in a symbolic gesture of healing across the two boroughs.