Navajo Code Talkers: Unknown Heroes
Seldom has it ever occurred that heroes to our country, let alone in general, have had to wait decades for proper acknowledgement for their heroic deeds. This is not the case for the Navajo Code Talkers. These brave souls had to wait a total of six decades to be acknowledged for their contributions to the United States and the Allied Forces of WWII. The code talkers were an influential piece to the success of the United States forces in the Pacific. Thus had it not been for the Native Americans that volunteered to be code talkers, there might not have been such a drastic turn around in the fighting of the Pacific Theatre.
Prior to the use of the Navajo language as code there had only been one other instance when a native language had been used as code. It was used once in the First World War but instead of it being the language of the Navajo Indians it was Choctaw. "Wartime communications using American Indian languages had been successful during the First World War, one of the most notable examples being the 141st Infantry's use of Choctaw Indians to transmit messages in Europe"( "Coded Contributions" History Today, Jul 91). Even prior to this there are oral traditions about a secret Navajo warrior language that was used in the seven and eighteenth centuries. His coded language was used so that enemies would not be able to hear and understand what was being said.
The United States was in desperate need of a new code in the Pacific Theatre because the other codes were being broken and or took to long to be deciphered and passed along. "Previous codes were so complex that military leaders complained they took hours to decipher. The Navajos could encode, transmit, and decode a three-line ...
... middle of paper ...
...rtificate and mandated August 14th as National Code Talkers Day.
President Bush said it best at A Ceremony in 2001 "In war, using their native language, they relayed secret messages that turned the course of battle. At home, they carried for decades the secret of their own heroism. Today, we give these exceptional Marines the recognition they earned so long ago" ("Navajo Code Talkers Honored with Medals; Language Stumped Japanese during WWII" The Washington Times, 7/27/01). He is completely correct and it is sickening that his statement is true, because with out the Code Talkers we might not have won in the Pacific. Yet still we have the audacity to take mistreat the native peoples when they return home. It was not enough that we stole their land out from under them or made them live on reservations, but after they save our necks we just go back to ignoring them.
In this story, one of the original Navajo Code Talkers, Chester Nez, tells his story of what it was like to be a Code Talker. The role of Code Talkers was very important because they gave codes to soldiers on the front lines. These codes were secret messages sent regarding battlefield strategies and other types of details.In the text, the information that was sent was very crucial to the war’s outcome. According to the passage,they were also one of the most important roles in World War II. In the text, this was because their codes were unable to be cracked. This means that the role of Code Talkers was very important because their code was never able to be cracked and so it helped the Allies a lot.
As a result of many negative stereotypes associated with certain variations of English many students have adapted codeswitching. When this concept came up in the book it made me think about my own language. I realized that I code switch quite often between what is seen as Standard English and African American English or Ebonics. Usually with family or other friends that speak Ebonics I use that Ebonics to communicate, but when I am in school, in a
On December 29, 1890, the army decided to take away all of the Sioux weapons because they weren’t sure if they could trust those indians. Some people think a deaf man did this, but one man shot his gun, while the tribe was surrendering. Studies think that he didn’t understand the Chiefs surrender. The army then opened fire at the Sioux. There was over 300 indians that died, and one of them was their chief named Bigfoot. This is an example of how we didn’t treat Native Americans fairly, because if it was a deaf man then we probably should of talked it out before we killed all those innocent
There have been many influential cultural leaders throughout the history of the world. These leaders worked to change and improve society for those without a voice of their own. Minorities often suffer miserable conditions until someone takes a stand to demand change. In the United States, Native Americans are treated as second-class citizens who don’t have the equality that all persons in this country should have. Many well known Native Americans have worked to achieve better education, healthcare, housing, and jobs for their people. One of the few women in this group, Wilma Mankiller, made many important accomplishments in modern Native American society. As a member of the Cherokee tribe, Mankiller overcame many obstacles to become the first female Deputy Chief, as well as the first female Chief of the Cherokee Nation. Wilma Mankiller has become one of the most important leaders in Native American history as well as an influential advocate for women's rights.
The story Navajo Lessons conveys the theme that “It is important to learn and appreciate your heritage.” This story is about a girl, Celine, and her brother that visit her grandmother on the Navajo reservation in Arizona. Celine arrives at a place in the middle of nowhere at her grandmother’s house and is not excited because she had better plans for the summer. Her family is encouraging her to deal with it and make something good out of it. Over time, Celine learns that this trip was worth it because she realized that it is important to learn and appreciate your heritage. Celine learned this in many ways, one of them being that she wanted to learn and listen to the stories that her grandmother was telling.
A young Apache at the time, Geronimo set out one day with his family from their homeland, which is now located in southeastern Arizona, on a trading mission into Mexico. Many other families also went with him. The men went into town to trade each day, leaving their families behind. On this momentous evening, they returned home to find that Mexican soldiers had ferociously attacked their camp. They had murdered their women and children and stolen their supplies and horses. The dead were scattered everywhere. Geronimo’s wife, three children, and his mother were among those slaughtered. He found their bodies lying in a pool of blood. “I had lost all,” Geronimo said. His heart was broken. He would never be the same again. The loss of his family led Geronimo to a lifelong hatred of all Mexicans. He was filled with hatred, and he would spend a lifetime pursuing vengeance for all that he and his people had lost. He became one of the most feared Apache warriors of all time. The career and accomplishments of Apache warrior Geronimo were indicative of the fight for a Native American way of life in conflict with that of the progressing American frontiersmen and Mexican soldiers.
Over the year and a half between Pearl Harbor and Midway the United States made headway with various technological and military advantages. One of the most important of which was the code breaking efforts of Commander Joseph J. Rochefort Jr. “Most of the U.S’s information [on Japan] came from Rochefort. R...
World war II was one of the deadliest war in history that associated with at least 30 countries and estimate at least 85 million deaths. This war went on for six fatal years until Allies defeated Germany and Japan in 1945. Many as 500,000 Latinos and Mexican-Americans served in World War II, which impacted many of them in the United States. Mexican-Americans were drafted or volunteered for the military services. Many risked their life wanting to protect our freedom. For Mexican Americans, they faced many challenges during this war but shows how soldiers contribute, women contribute, what the bracero program did and the effects after the war.
...op a Navajo code. The Navajo language seemed to be the perfect option as a code because it is not written and very few people who aren’t of Navajo origin can speak it. However, the Marine Corps took the code to the next level and made it virtually unbreakable by further encoding the language with word substitution. During the course of the war, about 400 Navajos participated in the code talker program. The navajo helped end the second world war.
Do you believe in witches? Healers who can revive a sick person instantly? People turning into animals? These things are part of the Navajo, a large federally recognized tribe of the country. They are known for doing rituals, ceremonies, and having their mysterious beliefs. This involves witches, “skinwalkers,” and medicine-men. Many of these topics are recognized in Bless Me, Ultima written by Rudolfo Anaya. The story features a boy who is conflicted between several cultural traditions. Ultima, a wise curandera – or healer –, guides and watches Antonio throughout the story. The impact of culture significantly affects the characters and their actions. Anaya introduces many subjects that are very similar to the Navajo and its vital aspects of life. Among the topics alike factors are connections to the land, healers, witches, religion, and many more. The Navajo lifestyle, culture traditions and beliefs are very similar to the indigenous subjects of Rudolfo Anaya's Bless Me, Ultima.
He was seen as wanted and needed in the Marines, because he was in order to send coded messages to the allied forces. Ned explains, “For so many years I had been in schools where I was told never to speak our sacred language. I had to listen to the words of bilaga’anaa teachers who had no respect at all for our old ways, and who told us that the best thing we could do would be to forget everything that made us Navajos. Now practically overnight, that had all changed.”(Burchac 81) As Ned explains, for the Navajos they were told to stop being Navajo, but now as they become Code Talkers that all changes.
The children, who spoke only Navajo, were not allowed to speak any Navajo at all, only english. If they were caught speaking any Navajo they were punished.
When people in todays society code-switch, we enhance our character and overall roundness to ourselves. There are instances where people code-switch to communicate with others in a different language, or we change our tone with certain groups of people. Speaking multiple languages in a household, can lead to a lot of code-switching because you can have that one relative who can’t speak english, so you become a “translator” to help them with daily tasks. Even though code-switching can happen with different languages, the most common code-switching is used when speaking to different groups of people. Talking to an adult would have a different type of tone, rather than speaking to one of your friends. Code-switching is used to help strengthen
There have been many forms of codes that were used to send messages from group to group or person to person. One of the first know type of secret messaging was done by the Spartans of Ancient Greece around 484 to 425 BC. Secret messages were written on wooden tablets and covered with wax to make the tablet look like wood again. The message could then be read after the wax was removed. The slaves trying to escape used another type of secret messaging. Some messages that they would use to signal each other were quilts. Certain patterns on some quilts gave directions to these slaves in how to escape into Canada. In addition, they used secret words to help guide their fellow slaves to freedom. One such code phrase was "Follow the drinking gourd." This referred to the Big Dipper in the night sky. Because most slaves traveled at night because it was safer, that phrase gave them directions to their freedom. Those were just a sample of early types of secret codes.
For instance, Mujumdar who grew up in the United States, but was born in India, was raised in an environment where her parents knew multiple languages: Marathi and English. Since the beginning, Marathi was a “symbol of security” for Mujumdar (1). Marathi is her protection from the outside world and only a few people are included in her privacy bubble. Therefore, one day when in the sleepy state she started talking in Marathi with her close friend sitting next to her, she felt more closer to her friend. She states, “To let someone else into that [close] blanket of security was a big moment” (Mujumdar 1). The person who has never let her marathi identity out to other people and when it does come out, it helps Mujumdar bond with her friend in a way that she never imagined. Code-switching is not necessarily an act of switching, but it’s about how language is being spoken that matters. Deggans on the other hand, had a hard time learning people’s reaction, but when he did he felt close to people