Hope Sandrow

The appearance of a white rooster is believed by many as a sign of coming good fortune – a reason they are often found by an entrance. 

I have come to believe this too.  while walking one morning in Shinnecock Hills once painted by William Merritt Chase, my path crossed with a white cockerel (young rooster). He followed me home and chose a cedar tree at the entrance to my garden for his roost. Hearing his cock-a-doodle-doo at dawn, I awoke, and followed taking photographs.

The young rooster crossed the road: “godt tegn” is a part of the series Shinnecock, that documents the life and times of the white cockerel I've named Shinnecock, a member of the ancient breed of renowned Paduan fowl painted by 16th century Italian artists and noted by naturalist such as Charles Darwin. Today Paduans are included on the list of endangered breeds as a result of their categorization as “strictly for ornamental use”  due to farmers favoring chickens genetically crossbred for maximum food production.  Because consumers prefer non-fertilized eggs, roosters are often merely considered a nuisance destined for the cook's pot. However, not long ago on Long Island in Shinnecock Hills and Hunters Point, the site of PS1 chickens lived in trees, roaming freely alongside Native Americans hunting bear, fox, and deer. 

My adventures with Shinnecock are stranger than fiction. 

Across the road we wandered onto a 13-acre estate that the Shinnecock Nation believes is the site of sacred Indian burials. Two days earlier the land was clear-cut its lodge slated for demolition.  In a corner of one room is a larger-than-life sized wooden carving of a rooster facing windows branded with the words “Hope’s Lokd Bar” that looks East to a rising Sun and Moon.

Since that time my art-making broadened to include a concerted effort with Shinnecock Nation to preserve this estate and Lodge.  And for Shinnecock, I brought home three hens. I also learned that the Lodge’s windows were manufactured by the company, Hope’s Windows,  its architecture inspired and informed by Nordic motifs – as many believe Vikings were the first Europeans to travel here. The Lodge’s name was “Gissa Bu” (mystery house) designed and handcrafted by Norwegians – the ancestry of Alanna

“Godt Tegn” -  (Norwegian for good sign)  the 30th anniversary of PS1.

Hope Sandrow, 2006