Jessica Crabtree

NAPT (Native American Public Telecommunications) is releasing a new documentary on the Choctaw code operators or World War I – the first Native Americans to employ their language as a code for the US military. The debut is set for premier in October. See the NAPT site for more details:

Native American Public Telecommunications: Choctaw Code Talkers film

View the trailer here:

Although the Choctaw units of the first World War were the original “code talkers,” their work was highly covert and today is often overlooked in favor of the more famous Navajo code talkers of World War II. In reality dozens of Indian nations and other indigenous peoples participated in these secret language programs, contributing vastly to the Allied efforts in both wars.

Click here for more on the Code Talkers

Visit my Links page for more great Native documentaries like We Shall Remain and March Point.

Read the story behind the Native American Code Talkers of World Wars I and II.

(Click the screenshot to enter. If you don’t have Flash, the HTML version is available here.)

Native American code talkers were used as early as World War I – a time when most American Indians were not even considered citizens, and the use of their languages and other traditional practices were severely restricted. Little-known languages, including Choctaw, Creek, and Comanche served to transmit secret military messages. The code talkers’ story remained obscure for decades, and only recently have their enormous contributions been recognized. During the first two days of the Battle of Iwo Jima, for example, Navajo code talkers exchanged more than 800 strategic messages.  Major Howard Connor of the 5th Marine Division said of them, “Were it not for the Navajos, the Marines would never have taken Iwo Jima.” The Navajo code used in World War II was never cracked.

See also:

http://www.navajocodetalkers.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_talker

Above: Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima, Joe Rosenthal’s iconic photograph of the flag raising on Mount Suribachi, Feb. 23, 1945. From the right: Harlon Block, Rene Gagnon, John Bradley, Michael Strank, Frank Sousley, Ira Hayes (Pima).