From the pattern:

“knitnotwar 1,0o0 is an art installation project of peace.”

“The origami crane is an international symbol of peace, due to the hopeful and heroic story of Sadako Sasaki. Sadako died of Leukemia after exposure from US atom bombings of Hiroshima in 1945. Following a Japanese legend of folding 1,000 paper cranes -- a kind of prayer for long life and recovery--Sadako hoped to get well. She completed over 1,000 before dying in October 1955 at the age of 12.”

“Artists will knit 1,0o0 origami style cranes, these will be publicly displayed late 2007 in Portland, Oregon-- USA.”

New note, Feb 2008: This pattern appears in the book Knitalong: Celebrating the Tradition of Knitting Together (March 2008, STC Craft).