Using their Native language to create an indecipherable code, the code talker’s efforts were significant without which the United States may not have been victorious. “Sworn to secrecy when we joined the code talkers, we were instructed to talk to no one about the code when we were discharged,” he told a gathering hosted by the Seminole Tribe of Florida. “We were one of the military’s secret weapons. Finally on August 4, 1982, President Ronald Reagan declared Navajo Code Talkers Day and declassified our role in the military service.” (Seminole Tribune, May 29, 2009)
Native Words, Native Warriors, a Travelling Exhibit
Toledo spoke at the opening of a Smithsonian Institution traveling exhibit that traces the history of the famed code talkers. The exhibit “Native Words, Native Warriors” is a comprehensive study through facts and photos at the acclaimed Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum located in the subtropics of Florida at the Big Cypress Seminole Reservation through July 6, 2009. It is one of several museums throughout the country where this exhibit has travelled.
When Toledo was 18, the U.S. was deeply involved in the war and the Japanese were decoding the Allied Forces military codes as fast as they were created. Philip Johnston, the son of a Presbyterian minister, was raised on the Navajo reservation and spoke the obscure language fluently. It was his suggestion that a military code in the Navajo language be developed. It proved impossible to break.
Approximately 500 Native Americans from 18 tribes served in the code talker program creating codes from their various Native languages. There were code talkers sending and receiving codes not only from the trenches of the Pacific but from the European and African theaters as well. Most were Navajo but others were Comanche, Pawnee, Cherokee, Chippewa, Sioux , Choctaw, Kiowa, Hopi and other tribes.
Native Languages Earn Respect
On a panel of the exhibit is inscribed this statement made in 1990 by Kevin Gover (Pawnee), former Assistant Secretary of Indian affairs, Department of Interior. “It is incredibly ironic that my agency, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, dedicated itself for the first half of the 20th century to destroying Native languages that (later) proved to be useful to our armed forces during World War II. It’s a great irony that in just two or three generations of being in conflict with the United States our warriors would play such a crucial role in the victory over this country’s enemies.”
The elder Toledo spoke about the trauma of his youth when he was separated at 10 years of age from his family and tribe and sent to government boarding schools. There he was forbidden to speak his language and practice cultural beliefs.
The Warrior Tradition
Native American societies have always held their warriors in great esteem and to this day the modern Native warrior is a hero to their people. They were the protectors of their society.
These are the words in the Smithsonian exhibit of Comanche Code Talker, Charles Chitbitty: “As a child I was forbidden to speak my Native language at school. Later my country asked me to (speak it). My language helped win the war and that made me proud. Very proud. Warriors are willing to sacrifice their lives for their tribe and their family. ”
Despite the ugly history of the treatment of American Indians, the code talkers are an example of the valor and commitment of Native Americans who went to war decades later to defend the United States. During the Second World War approximately 44,000 Native Americans served in all areas of the war and many continue to serve their country today.
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