They were a small band of warriors who created an unbreakable code from the ancient language of their people and changed the course of modern history. Known as Navajo Code Talkers, they were young Navajo men who transmitted secret communications on the battlefields of WWII. At a time when America's best cryptographers were falling short, these modest sheepherders and farmers were able to fashion the most ingenious and successful code in military history. They drew upon their proud warrior tradition to brave the dense jungles of Guadalcanal and the exposed beachheads of Iwo Jima. Serving with distinction in every major engagement of the Pacific theater from 1942-1945, their unbreakable code played a pivotal role in saving countless lives and hastening the war's end.

1. Navajo Language as a Weapon

2.  Native American History
 Native American Code Talkers
 Navajo Code Talkers
 WWII
 The Code
 Coming Home
 Discussion

3.  Native Americans, also known as Amerindians, American Indians,
Indians, Indigenous Americans, Native Peoples are the Indigenous Peoples
of Turtle Island aka the United States and Canada. There are over 500 federally
recognized tribes within the US, about half of which are associated with Indian
Reservations. The term excludes Native Hawaiians and some Alaskan Natives.
 Native Americans did not arrive here via the Bering Strait. We believe our
ancestors long ago were given this land by the Creator to protect and defend.
All tribal creation stories verify this. A vast variety of Native peoples, Native
societies and Native cultures subsequently developed. Native Americans were
greatly affected by the European colonization of the Americas, which began in
1492, and our population declined tremendously due to introduction of
diseases, warfare, genocidal government tactics , and slavery. After the
founding of the United States, many Native American peoples were subjected
to warfare, forcibal removal at gun point and one-sided treaties, and we
continued to suffer from discriminatory government policies into the 20th
century. Since the 1960s, Native American self-determination movements aka
the American Indian Movement and Idle No More, has resulted in changes to
the lives of Native Americans, though there are still many contemporary issues
faced by Native Americans. Today, there are over five million Native Americans
in the United States.

5.  During World War I and World War II, hundreds of American Indians joined the United States
armed forces and used words from their traditional tribal languages as weapons. The United States
military asked them to develop secret battle communications based on their languages—and
America’s enemies never deciphered the coded messages they sent. “Code Talkers,” as they came to be
known after World War II, are twentieth-century American Indian warriors and heroes who
significantly aided the victories of the United States and its allies.
 American Indian nations have always fought to defend themselves. Anyone who threatened their
families, cultures, and lands was their enemy, including the United States. As a result of wars with the
United States, many tribes were forced off their lands, relocated, or confined to reservations where
they endured poverty, racism, and attempts to erase their traditional cultures. Languages were
particularly targeted in the government’s efforts to change the American Indians’ ways of life.
Beginning in the late 1800s, Indian children were forbidden to speak their own languages and
punished in government- and church-supported boarding schools if they did.
 Most American Indians were not legally considered citizens of the United States until 1924. Even
then, some states refused to let American Indians vote until as late as the 1950s.
 Despite this tragic history, many American Indian men and women have served in all branches of the
military. In many conflicts and wars, including World War I and World War II, American Indians
honorably defended their homelands and the United States.
 American Indian Code Talkers were communications specialists. Their job was to send coded
messages about troop movements, enemy positions, and other critical information on the battlefield.
Some Code Talkers translated messages into their Native languages and relayed them to another
tribal member. Others developed a special code within their languages that they used in combat to
send important messages.

6.  We call ourselves Diné which means “the People.”
 Centuries before Christopher Columbus landed in the
Americas, Diné were already settled in the Four Corners
area of the Colorado Plateau. However, Navajos weren’t the
first inhabitants of the land. Evidence of Paleo Indians and
Anasazi in Monument Valley is still visible through their
sites and ruins dating before 1300 A.D. It wasn’t until 1581
that the first Spaniards made contact with the Diné.
 From our cultural perspective, we Diné believe we came to
our land by emerging through four levels of worlds, to
currently reside in the fourth level, the “Glittering World”,
which we are in right now.

7.  The Long Walk of the Navajo, also called the Long Walk to Bosque Redondo (Diné : Hwéeldi),
refers to the 1864 deportation and attempted ethnic cleansing of the Navajo people by the
government of the United States of America. The Diné were forced to walk from their land in what is
now Arizona to eastern New Mexico. Some 53 different forced marches occurred between
August 1864 and the end of 1866.
 The march was one that was very difficult and pushed many Diné to their breaking point, including
death. The distance itself was cruel, but the fact that they did not receive any aid from the soldiers
was devastating. Not every single person was in prime condition to trek 300 miles, many began the
walk exhausted and malnourished, others were not properly clothed and were not in the least
prepared for such a long journey. Neither sympathy nor remorse were given to the Diné. They were
never informed as to where they were going, why they were being relocated, and how long it would
take to get there. One account passed through generations within the Diné shows the attitude of the
U.S. Army as follows:
 It was said that those ancestors were on the Long Walk with their daughter, who was pregnant and
about to give birth, the daughter got tired and weak and couldn't keep up with the others or go
further because of her condition. So my ancestors asked the Army to hold up for a while and to let the
woman give birth, but the soldiers wouldn't do it. They forced my people to move on, saying that they
were getting behind the others. The soldier told the parents that they had to leave their daughters
behind. "Your daughter is not going to survive, anyway; sooner or later she is going to die," they said
in their own language. "Go ahead," the daughter said to her parents, "things might come out all right
with me," But the poor thing was mistaken, my grandparents used to say. Not long after they had
moved on, they heard a gunshot from where they had been a short time ago.

9.  “A lot of our people are hesitant to talk about this because there was pain and suffering,
but there’s a larger story here, a different perspective we need to think about. As Navajos,
we want to know who we are.” ~Navajo Nation Vice President Jonathan Nez.
 On June 1, 1868, a delegation of Navajo leaders signed with X’s a “treaty and agreement”
with the United States that ended the exile of the Navajo from their ancestral homeland
and their incarceration at Fort Sumner. Four years earlier, the Army rounded up the
Navajo and forced them to walk to Fort Sumner—a distance of about 350 miles—in a
campaign to assimilate the Navajo and relocate them to a reservation. With the Treaty of
1868, the Navajo became the only Native nation to use an agreement with the federal
government to return home.
 One hundred and fifty years later, the Navajo Nation is commemorating the Treaty of
1868, the leaders who had the foresight to enter into a binding agreement with the
federal government and the enormous growth of the Navajo people since then. At more
than 300,000 members strong, the Navajo Nation is one of the most powerful Native
nations in the United States, with the largest land base. This year, we recognize the
difficult past while looking forward to a bright future.

10.  On June 18, 1868, the once-scattered bands of people who call
themselves Diné, set off together on the return journey, the
"Long Walk" home. This is one of the few instances where the
U.S. government permitted a tribe to return to their traditional
boundaries. The Navajo were granted 3.5 million acres of land
inside their four sacred mountains. The Navajo also became a
more cohesive tribe after the Long Walk and were able to
successfully increase the size of their reservation since then, to
over 16 million acres.
 After relating 20 pages of material concerning the Long Walk,
Howard Gorman, age 73 at the time, concluded:
 As I have said, our ancestors were taken captive and driven to
Hwéeldi for no reason at all. They were harmless people, and,
even to date, we are the same, holding no harm for
anybody...Many Navajos who know our history and the story of
Hwéeldi say the same. — Navajo Stories of the Long Walk Period

12.  The United States military continued to maintain forts
on the Navajo Reservation in the years following the
Navajo Long Walk.
 By treaty we Diné were allowed to leave the reservation
with permission from the military or the Indian agent.
This lead to a decrease in Diné raids due to the
increase of our livestock and crops.
 In the 1930’s the U.S. government claimed the Navajo
livestock were overgrazing and they killed more than
80% of the livestock, in what is known at the Navajo
Livestock Reduction.
 In the 1940s the U.S. government denied the Navajos
welfare because of the Navajos communal society.

13.  After the bombing of Pearl Harbor many young Navajo
men volunteered to join the war effort. Some arriving
at various forts with their own rifles.
 During the early months of WWII the Japanese broke
every code the U.S. forces used.

14.  In World War I, Choctaw and other American Indians transmitted battle messages in their tribal languages by
telephone. Although not used extensively, the World War I telephone squads played a key role in helping the United
States Army win several battles in France that brought about the end of the war.
 Beginning in 1940, the army recruited Comanches, Choctaws, Hopis, Cherokees, and others to transmit messages. The
army had special American Indian recruiters working to find Comanches in Oklahoma who would enlist.
 The Marine Corps recruited Navajo Code Talkers in 1941 and 1942. Philip Johnston was a World War I veteran who had
heard about the successes of the Choctaw telephone squad. Johnston, although not Indian, had grown up on the
Navajo reservation. In 1942, he suggested to the Marine Corps that Navajos and other tribes could be very helpful in
maintaining communications secrecy. After viewing a demonstration of messages sent in the Navajo language, the
Marine Corps was so impressed that they recruited 29 Navajos in two weeks to develop a code within their language.
 After the Navajo code was developed, the Marine Corps established a Code Talking school. As the war progressed, more
than 400 Navajos were eventually recruited as Code Talkers. The training was intense. Following their basic training,
the Code Talkers completed extensive training in communications and memorizing the code.
 Some Code Talkers enlisted, others were drafted. Many of the Code Talkers who served were under age and had to lie
about their age to join. Some were just 15 years old. Ultimately, there were Code Talkers from at least 16 tribes who
served in the Army, the Marines, and the Navy.
 All I thought when I went in the Marine Corps was going to give me a belt of ammunition, and a rifle, a steel helmet, and
a uniform. Go and shoot some of those Japanese. That’s what I thought; but later on they told us differently, you know
different style, purpose of why they got us in.—Chester Nez, Navajo Code Talker, National Museum of the American
Indian interview, 2004 That was about 1940, and when I got home I said, I found out they was recruiting 20 Comanches
who could talk their tribe fluently for a special unit, and I told dad, “I’d like to go.”—Charles Chibitty, Comanche Code
Talker, National Museum of the American Indian interview, 2004
 We were drafted. They made us go. I didn’t volunteer. —Franklin Shupla, Hopi Code Talker, National Museum of the
American Indian interview, 2004.

15.  Many American Indian Code Talkers in World War II used
their everyday tribal languages to convey messages. A
message such as, “Send more ammunition to the front,”
would just be translated into the Native language and sent
over the radio. These became known as Type Two Codes.
 However, the Navajos, Comanches, Hopis, and Meskwakis
developed and used special codes based on their languages.
These became known as Type One Codes.
 To develop their Type One Code, the original 29 Navajo
Code Talkers first came up with a Navajo word for each
letter of the English alphabet. Since they had to memorize
all the words, they used things that were familiar to them,
such as kinds of animals.

16.  During World War II, coded radio transmission was the fastest way to
deliver commands to units overseas. Cryptographers on both sides
became adept at intercepting and decoding their opponents’
transmissions. In 1942, the Marine Corps found a new way to keep their
communications secure with the Navajo Code Talkers.
 Marines from the Navajo tribe began to send secure voice
transmissions based on their native language. Since only a small group
of Americans spoke Navajo, it was impossible for the enemy to gain
intelligence from any intercepted messages. Additionally, the Navajo
Code Talkers proved faster and more accurate than Morse Code or any
machine.
 The unique Navajo language gave the Marines a strategic advantage
during the Battle of Iwo Jima and countless other World War II battles.
The program was highly classified for 25 years and, to this day, there’s
no indication any intercepted Navajo code was successfully deciphered.

17.  On May 5, 1942, the first 29 Navajos arrived at the Recruit Depot in San Diego, California, for basic
training, where they trained in the standard procedures of the military and in weapons use.
Afterward, they moved to Fleet Marine Force Training Center at Camp Elliott, where they received
special courses in the transmission of messages and instruction in radio operation.

18.  The Invasion of Iwo Jima began on February 19, 1945
and continued to March 26, 1945.
 The battle was marked by some of the fiercest fighting
in the War.
 Of the 21,000 Japanese soldiers present at the
beginning of the battle, 19,000 were killed and 1093
were taken prisoner.
 The taking of Mt Suribachi was communicated by
Navajo.
 The bombing of Hiroshima was communicated by
Navajo.

19.  After the war the Navajos returned home as heroes,
without a heroes welcome.
 Their Code had been so successful it was considered a
military secret too important to divulge. They remained
silent heroes for 2 decades.
 After the declassification of the Code in 1968 it took many
years before official recognition was given.
 In 2001, 60 years later after the creation of the legendary
Code the Navajo Code Talkers finally received well
deserved Congressional Medals of Honor.
 Now in their 80s and 90s few Code Talkers remain.

20.  Many Code Talker stories have yet to be documented.
 The Navajo Code Talker Association was created in
2009 and is working to create a lasting Navajo Code
Talker Legacy.
 The Navajo Code Talkers Foundation is a 501 (c) (3)
nonprofit organization and is dedicated to educating
current and future generations about the history,
ideals and heroic accomplishments in World War II by
the Navajo Code Talkers.
 To help preserve the greatest stories ever told please go
to www.navajocodetalkers.org

21.  The name Code Talkers is strongly associated with
Navajo speakers.
 Code Talking however was pioneered by Choctaw
Natives serving in the U.S. Army in World War I.
Other Native Tribes were employed by the U.S. Army
during World War II including Cherokee, Choctaw,
Lakota, Meswaki and Commanche Warriors.
 Additionally soldiers of Basque ancestry were used for
Code Talking by the U.S. Marines in World War II in
areas where other Basque speakers were not expected
to be operating.

22.  Despite the historical unjust treatment of Dine People patriotism in World War II is very
important to Dine People.
 By the end of World War II 3,600 Navajo served and 400 were trained as Code Talkers.
 Navajos have the highest utilization of our language among all tribes.
 Without the Navajo language critical battles during World War II would have never been
won.
 American Indian communities remember their veterans’ sacrifices forever. Veterans are
always respected and honored. Sometimes they are remembered in special songs that are
sung in their honor. Native people often go to veterans for advice because they have
strong mental abilities as a result of their many experiences. Depending on the
community, veterans are given special prominence at different kinds of tribal events. For
example, at powwows veterans always lead the grand entry of dancers. They carry the
American Indian Eagle Staff, the flag of the United States, their tribal flag, and other
important banners. Veterans are recognized and honored on special occasions with
ceremonies and dances that relate their sacrifices to the community. For example, the
Comanche Gourd Dance honors veterans. Sometimes a family member or a friend might
hold a special dance or ceremony to honor a veteran. These are the lasting traditions that
show respect to veterans for what they have done for the people.