American Indian Code Talkers | The National WWII Museum

<!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en" dir="ltr" prefix="content: http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/ dc: http://purl.org/dc/terms/ foaf: http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/ og: http://ogp.me/ns# rdfs: http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema# schema: http://schema.org/ sioc: http://rdfs.org/sioc/ns# sioct: http://rdfs.org/sioc/types# skos: http://www.w3.org/2004/02/skos/core# xsd: http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema# "> <head> <meta charset="utf-8" /> <script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=UA-4265387-1"></script> <script>window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || [];function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments)};gtag("js", new Date());gtag("set", "developer_id.dMDhkMT", true);ga('require', 'GTM-5C7T34Z');gtag("config", "UA-4265387-1", {"groups":"default","anonymize_ip":true,"page_placeholder":"PLACEHOLDER_page_path","allow_ad_personalization_signals":false});</script> <meta name="description" content="The idea of using American Indians who were fluent in both their traditional tribal language and in English to send secret messages in battle was first put to the test in World War I with the Choctaw Telephone Squad and other Native communications experts and messengers. However, it wasn’t until World War II that the US military developed a specific policy to recruit and train American Indian speakers to become code talkers." /> <meta name="keywords" content="Pacific Theater of Operations,From the Collection to the Classroom,Native Americans in World War II" /> <meta property="og:site_name" content="The National WWII Museum | New Orleans" /> <meta property="og:url" content="https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/american-indian-code-talkers" /> <meta property="og:title" content="American Indian Code Talkers | The National WWII Museum | New Orleans" /> <meta property="og:description" content="The idea of using American Indians who were fluent in both their traditional tribal language and in English to send secret messages in battle was first put to the test in World War I with the Choctaw Telephone Squad and other Native communications experts and messengers. However, it wasn’t until World War II that the US military developed a specific policy to recruit and train American Indian speakers to become code talkers." /> <meta property="og:image" content="https://www.nationalww2museum.org/sites/default/files/2017-08/code%20talkers%20guadalcanal%20sized.jpg" /> <meta property="og:image:url" content="https://www.nationalww2museum.org/sites/default/files/2017-08/code%20talkers%20guadalcanal%20sized.jpg" /> <meta name="twitter:card" content="summary" /> <meta name="twitter:site" content="@nwwiim" /> <meta name="twitter:description" content="The idea of using American Indians who were fluent in both their traditional tribal language and in English to send secret messages in battle was first put to the test in World War I with the Choctaw Telephone Squad and other Native communications experts and messengers. However, it wasn’t until World War II that the US military developed a specific policy to recruit and train American Indian speakers to become code talkers." /> <meta name="twitter:title" content="American Indian Code Talkers | The National WWII Museum | New Orleans" /> <meta name="twitter:image" content="https://www.nationalww2museum.org/sites/default/files/2017-08/code%20talkers%20guadalcanal%20sized.jpg" /> <meta name="msvalidate.01" content="C1BA3C5E09C99A8C5CAE355F5DF8D081" /> <script type="application/ld+json">{"@type":"Article","headline":"American Indian Code Talkers ","datePublished":"2017-08-14T09:17:45","author":"DaveW","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"The National World War II Museum","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.nationalww2museum.org\/themes\/nwwiim\/images\/logos\/logo.png"}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","height":"700","width":"960","url":"https:\/\/www.nationalww2museum.org\/sites\/default\/files\/2017-08\/code%20talkers%20guadalcanal%20sized.jpg"},"articleBody":"What is a code talker? A code talker is the name given to American Indians who used their tribal language to send secret communications on the battlefield. Most people have heard of the famous Navajo (or Diné) code talkers who used their traditional language to transmit secret Allied messages in the Pacific theater of combat during World War II. But did you know that there were at least 14 other Native nations, including the Cherokee and Comanche, that served as code talkers in both the Pacific and Europe during the war? The idea of using American Indians who were fluent in both their traditional tribal language and in English to send secret messages in battle was first put to the test in World War I with the Choctaw Telephone Squad and other Native communications experts and messengers. However, it wasn’t until World War II that the US military developed a specific policy to recruit and train American Indian speakers to become code talkers. The irony of being asked to use their Native languages to fight on behalf of America was not lost on code talkers, many of whom had been forced to attend government or religious-run boarding schools that tried to assimilate Native peoples and would punish students for speaking in their traditional language. The US Army was the first branch of the military that began recruiting code talkers from places like Oklahoma in 1940. Other branches, such as the US Marines and Navy, followed a few years later, and the first class of 29 Navajo code talker US Marine recruits completed its training in 1942. Apart from basic training, these men had to develop and memorize a unique military code using their mostly unwritten language, and were placed in a guarded room until this task was completed. The first type of code they created, Type 1 code, consisted of 26 Navajo terms that stood for individual English letters that could be used to spell out a word. For instance, the Navajo word for “ant,” wo-la-chee, was used to represent the letter “a” in English. Type 2 code contained words that could be directly translated from English into Navajo, and the code talkers also developed a dictionary of 211 terms (later expanded to 411) for military words and names that didn’t originally exist in the Navajo language. For example, since there was no existing Navajo word for “submarine,” the code talkers agreed to use the term besh-lo, which translates to “iron fish.”","@context":"http:\/\/schema.org\/","description":"The idea of using American Indians who were fluent in both their traditional tribal language and in English to send secret messages in battle was first put to the test in World War I with the Choctaw Telephone Squad and other Native communications experts and messengers. However, it wasn’t until World War II that the US military developed a specific policy to recruit and train American Indian speakers to become code talkers."}</script> <meta name="Generator" content="Drupal 10 (https://www.drupal.org)" /> <meta name="MobileOptimized" content="width" /> <meta name="HandheldFriendly" content="true" /> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" /> <link rel="icon" href="/themes/nwwiim/favicon.ico" type="image/vnd.microsoft.icon" /> <link rel="canonical" href="https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/american-indian-code-talkers" /> <link rel="shortlink" href="https://www.nationalww2museum.org/node/1234" /> <title>American Indian Code Talkers | The National WWII Museum | New Orleans</title> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0, maximum-scale=1.0, user-scalable=0" /> <link rel="apple-touch-icon" sizes="180x180" href="/themes/nwwiim/favicons/apple-touch-icon.png"> <link rel="icon" 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</li> </ol> </nav> </div> </div> </div> </section> <section id="heading" class="heading border--bottom img-yes row-inside--md"> <div class="flex-grid flex-align--center l-container--lg"> <div class="col--first col-flex--1"> <div class="f--label f--uppercase"><a href="/war/articles" hreflang="en">Article</a></div> <div id="block-nwwiim-page-title" class="block block-core block-page-title-block"> <div class="block-content"> <h1 class="f--tertiary wrapper-width--lg">American Indian Code Talkers </h1> </div> </div> <div class="f--desc row-outside--top-xs"> <div class="wrapper-width--md"> <p>The idea of using American Indians who were fluent in both their traditional tribal language and in English to send secret messages in battle was first put to the test in World War I with the Choctaw Telephone Squad and other Native communications experts and messengers. However, it wasn’t until World War II that the US military developed a specific policy to recruit and train American Indian speakers to become code talkers.</p> </div> </div> </div> <div class="col--second col-flex--1"> <div class="img-ratio--wide bg--light-grey"> <img loading="lazy" src="/themes/nwwiim/images/loaders/placeholder.gif" width="960" height="700" alt="code talkers" typeof="foaf:Image" class="b-lazy" data-src="/sites/default/files/styles/wide_medium/public/2017-08/code%20talkers%20guadalcanal%20sized.jpg?h=07f9aabd" /> <noscript><img src="/sites/default/files/styles/wide_medium/public/2017-08/code%20talkers%20guadalcanal%20sized.jpg?h=07f9aabd" alt="code talkers"/></noscript> </div> </div> </div> </section> <section id="content" class="cf"> <div id="social-sharing"> <ul> <li> <a class="icon-facebook btn social-square" href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/american-indian-code-talkers" target="_blank"></a> </li> <li> <a class="icon-x btn social-square" href="https://x.com/intent/post?url=https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/american-indian-code-talkers&text=American%20Indian%20Code%20Talkers%20%20%7C%20The%20National%20WWII%20Museum%20%7C%20New%20Orleans%0AThe%20idea%20of%26nbsp%3Busing%20American%20Indians%20who%20were%20f%0A" target="_blank"></a> </li> <li> <a class="icon-envelope btn social-square" href="mailto:?Subject=American Indian Code Talkers | The National WWII Museum | New Orleans&Body=The idea of&nbsp;using American Indians who were fluent in both their traditional tribal language and in English to send secret messages in battle was first put to the test in World War I with the Choctaw Telephone Squad and other Native communications experts and messengers. However, it wasn’t until World War II that the US military developed a specific policy to recruit and train American Indian speakers to become code talkers. %0A https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/american-indian-code-talkers " target="_blank"></a> </li> </ul> </div> <div id="block-nwwiim-content" class="block block-system block-system-main-block"> <div class="block-content"> <article id="node-1234" class=" cf node--article" about="/war/articles/american-indian-code-talkers"> <div class="body-styles l-container--sm row-outside--md cf"> <p>What is a code talker? A code talker is the name given to American Indians who used their tribal language to send secret communications on the battlefield. Most people have heard of the famous Navajo (or Diné) code talkers who used their traditional language to transmit secret Allied messages in the Pacific theater of combat during World War II. But did you know that there were at least 14 other Native nations, including the Cherokee and Comanche, that served as code talkers in both the Pacific and Europe during the war? The idea of using American Indians who were fluent in both their traditional tribal language and in English to send secret messages in battle was first put to the test in World War I with the Choctaw Telephone Squad and other Native communications experts and messengers. However, it wasn’t until World War II that the US military developed a specific policy to recruit and train American Indian speakers to become code talkers. The irony of being asked to use their Native languages to fight on behalf of America was not lost on code talkers, many of whom had been forced to attend government or religious-run boarding schools that tried to assimilate Native peoples and would punish students for speaking in their traditional language.</p> <p>The US Army was the first branch of the military that began recruiting code talkers from places like Oklahoma in 1940. Other branches, such as the US Marines and Navy, followed a few years later, and the first class of 29 Navajo code talker US Marine recruits completed its training in 1942. Apart from basic training, these men had to develop and memorize a unique military code using their mostly unwritten language, and were placed in a guarded room until this task was completed.</p> <p>The first type of code they created, Type 1 code, consisted of 26 Navajo terms that stood for individual English letters that could be used to spell out a word. For instance, the Navajo word for “ant,” wo-la-chee, was used to represent the letter “a” in English.</p> <p>Type 2 code contained words that could be directly translated from English into Navajo, and the code talkers also developed a dictionary of 211 terms (later expanded to 411) for military words and names that didn’t originally exist in the Navajo language. For example, since there was no existing Navajo word for “submarine,” the code talkers agreed to use the term besh-lo, which translates to “iron fish.”</p> </div> <div class="paragraph p-bundle p-bundle--inline-callout row-outside--md"> <div class="flex-grid row-inside--xs l-container--sm border--top border--bottom cf "> <div class="col--first col-flex--1 gap--sm"> <div class="img-ratio--tall bg--light-grey"> <div class="field field--name-field-callout-image field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="/themes/nwwiim/images/loaders/placeholder.gif" width="580" height="690" alt="Thumbnail" typeof="foaf:Image" class="b-lazy" data-src="/sites/default/files/styles/narrow_medium/public/2017-08/curriculum%20guide%20beauty%20sized.jpg" /> <noscript><img src="/sites/default/files/styles/narrow_medium/public/2017-08/curriculum%20guide%20beauty%20sized.jpg" alt="Thumbnail"/></noscript> </div> </div> </div> <div class="col--first col-flex--2-half"> <h3 class="f--tertiary"><em>The War in the Pacific</em> </h3> <div class="f--desc"><p>Explore The National WWII Museum's curriculum for its Summer Teacher Institute.</p> </div> <a href="http://ww2classroom.org" title="Read more" class="btn solid teal" target="_blank"><span>Read more</span></a> </div> </div> </div> <div class="paragraph body-paragraph p-bundle p-bundle--textarea row-outside--md cf"> <div class="body-styles l-container--sm cf"> <p>Most code talkers were assigned in pairs to a military unit. During battle, one person would operate the portable radio while the second person would relay and receive messages in the Native language and translate them into English. Their work was highly dangerous especially in the Pacific, because Japanese soldiers would deliberately target officers, medics, and radiomen, and code talkers had to keep moving as they transmitted their messages. The work of hundreds of code talkers was essential to Allied victory in World War II, and they were present at many important battles, including at Utah Beach during the D-Day invasion in France, and at Iwo Jima in the Pacific. In fact, 5th Marine Division signal officer Major Howard Connor stated, “Were it not for the Navajos, the Marines would never have taken Iwo Jima.”</p> <p>Despite their heroic contributions during the war, American Indian code talkers were told that they had to keep their work secret. They couldn’t even tell their family members about their communications work. Since the codes that they developed remained unbroken, the US military wanted to keep the program classified in case the code talkers were needed again in future wars. Even when the WWII code talker program was declassified in 1968, national recognition of code talkers was slow. While there was some recognition in the 1970s and 1980s, it wasn’t until 2001 that Congressional Gold Medals were given to the Navajo and other code talkers.</p> </div> </div> <div class="topics-content row-inside--md l-container--sm border--top"> <div class="field field--name-field-topics field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topics</div> <div class="field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/war/topics/pacific-theater-operations" hreflang="en">Pacific Theater of Operations</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/war/topics/collection-classroom" hreflang="en">From the Collection to the Classroom</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/war/topics/native-americans-world-war-ii" hreflang="en">Native Americans in World War II</a></div> </div> </div> </div> <script> dataLayer.push({'wordCount': ''}); </script> </article> </div> </div> </section> <div class="field field--name-field-related-content field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden carousel-prepend"> <li class="carousel-cell"> <article id="node-1038" class="view-mode--teaser-tile effect--view-mode cf view-mode--hover-effect" about="/war/articles/pacific-strategy-1941-1944"> <div class="col-image"> <a href="/war/articles/pacific-strategy-1941-1944" target="_self"> <img loading="lazy" src="/themes/nwwiim/images/loaders/placeholder.gif" width="650" height="468" alt="Pacific Strategy Map" typeof="foaf:Image" class="b-lazy" data-src="/sites/default/files/styles/max_650x650/public/2017-07/Pacific%20Strategy%20Map.jpg" /> <noscript><img src="/sites/default/files/styles/max_650x650/public/2017-07/Pacific%20Strategy%20Map.jpg" alt="Pacific Strategy Map"/></noscript> </a> </div> <div class="col-content"> <div class="f--label f--uppercase effect--f"> <div class="field field--name-field-article-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Article Type</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/war/articles" hreflang="en">Article</a></div> </div> </div> <h3 class="f--title f--tertiary"><a href="/war/articles/pacific-strategy-1941-1944" rel="bookmark" target="_self">The Pacific Strategy, 1941-1944</a></h3> <div class="f--desc"> <p>On December 7, 1941, Japan staged a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, severely damaging the US Pacific Fleet. 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