Westport, Massachusetts natives Merri Cyr and Chief Nij-Pajikwat-Mo`z (Chief Two Running Elk), also known as Robert Cox, are collaborating on a groundbreaking project: the first sculptural representation of an Eastern Woodlands Indian in Westport, to be installed at Wainer Woods Farm.
An exhibition at New Bedford Art Museum in October and November 2025 offered a preview of the forthcoming monument and a behind-the-scenes look at the artists’ creative process. On view are photographic portraits—jointly styled by Cyr and Chief Two Running Elk—that shaped the monument’s stance and mood. Displayed in the exhibition are a digitally printed maquette for a a larger-than-life, bronze sculpture based on a 3d scanned pose of the Chief. Ritual objects and accessories, researched and designed by the Chief from historical sources, were also on display.
Chief Two Running Elk, a descendant of the Wainer and Cuffe families whose ownership of the Wainer Woods farm spans more than 200 years, envisions Wainer Woods as a community gathering space and an Eastern Woodlands Indian educational center. Plans include artist residencies, a food forest, a seed saver farm, and an orchard—cultivating both cultural and ecological renewal.
The larger than life bronze of “Eastern Native Woodland Indian as Imagined by Chief Two Running Elk” will ultimately sit at Wainer Woods in a rural park setting with Native plantings facing the rising sun. Additionally, there will be boulders formed in a semi circle beside the chief so visitors can sit along side and enjoy the view.
