A white fawn born in NYC brings hope to the community

August 31, 2018 - This is a white fawn spotted beneath the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in Fort Wadsworth, Staten Island. Some members of New York’s Native American community have been inspired by the sighting. The fawn has a genetic mutation called leucism, which causes a lightening of skin and fur but not eyes. It occurs in one percent of deer. Coincidentally, in the early 1900s there were plans to build a large memorial for Native Americans at the same location of the sighting. President William Howard Taft and 32 Native American chiefs, including Two Moons and Red Hawk, attended the groundbreaking ceremony in 1913. But World War I interrupted the construction and the memorial was never built. The fawns’ sighting has given some members of the Native American community new inspiration to break ground again and build the memorial.