The American Buffalo: A WTTW Behind-the-Scenes Preview & Discussion

Join WTTW, The Mitchell Museum of the American Indian and Openlands on Thursday, October 12 at 4:30 pm for an in-person preview and discussion of The American Buffalo, a new film directed by Ken Burns. This two-part, four-hour series tells the biography of an improbable, shaggy beast that has found itself at the center of many of the country’s most mythic and heartbreaking tales. The series, will take viewers on a journey through more than 10,000 years of North American history and across some of the continent’s most iconic landscapes, tracing the mammal’s evolution, its significance to the Great Plains and, most importantly, its relationship to the Indigenous People of North America. The American Buffalo premieres on all WTTW platforms on October 16 and 17 at 7:00 pm.

Join us to preview selections from the film along with Brandon Hayes, Founder and Principal of Bold Bison Communications & Consulting, who will moderate a conversation with Kim Vigue, Executive Director of the Mitchell Museum of the American Indian and member of the Oneida Nation and a descendant of the Menominee Tribe of Wisconsin; Christina Henderson, The USDA Forest Service Midewin Prairie Supervisor; and Matt Ruhter, Conservation Attorney at Openlands.

Major funding for the WTTW presentation of The American Buffalo is provided by Rita and John Canning, Denny and Sandy Cummings, Marshall Field, Alicia and Peter Pond, and TAWANI Property Management. Additional support is provided Barbara Malott Kizziah and Keith Kizziah, and David and Amanda Mabie (as of September 25, 2023).

Corporate funding for The American Buffalo was provided by Bank of America. Major funding was provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and by The Better Angels Society and its following members: The Margaret A. Cargill Foundation at the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation; Diane and Hal Brierley; The Keith Campbell Foundation for the Environment; John and Catherine Debs; Kissick Family Foundation; Fred and Donna Seigel; Jacqueline Mars; John and Leslie McQuown; and Mr. and Mrs. Paul TudorJones. Funding was also provided by The Volgenau Foundation.