A mostly white fawn weaves in and out of the trees, her pearly fleece shimmering, ghostlike. Petite and elegant, she inhabits the historic ramparts and sloping greens of Fort Wadsworth, a 226-acre site on Staten Island’s northeastern shore.

The location—one of the oldest American fortifications, first built by the Dutch in the 17th Century—is known for being the starting point of the New York City Marathon each November. Her appearance, according to some, serves as an inspiration to begin anew a different quest: A project to honor Native Americans that dates back more than a century.

The young deer can be seen grazing and playing at dawn and dusk with its normal-colored twin and their mother in the glow of the Verrazano-Narrows

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