Navajo Code Talkers in WWII

Paper Summary:

The paper discusses how the Navajo, like many other native tribes, readily served in WWII despite the fact that the United States had subverted and even arguably annihilated its culture. The paper attempts to shed light on this and suggests that the belated recognition of culture by a recognized representative of white culture and society, the military, was a source of motivation for them.

From the Paper:

"The Navajo Code Talkers are a fascinating group of individuals who served in WWII as radio transmitters, mainly in the Marines. (Townsend 145) The complex and relatively unknown language of the Navajo served as a concentrated and ready made medium for transmitting military information in a secure manner to ensure the safety and integrity of military operations. The concept of Native American's serving in the military was not completely new but it took the very popular WWII as well as the indoctrination of hundreds of thousands of Native people's into the white culture, mainly through white education systems for the native peoples to eagerly seek enlistment in the American military. Although the United States basically annihilated the Native American Indian tribes, Indian men from the Navajo nation seemed more than willing to enlist in military service just fifty years later in 1941, when asked to do so specifically for the purpose of code transmission. (Townsend 145)"

Sample of Sources Used:

• Jevec, Adam, and Lee Ann Potter. "The Navajo Code Talkers." Social Education 65.5 (2001): 262.
• Lahti, Janne. "William C. Meadows, the Comanche Code Talkers of World War II." American Studies International 42.1 (2004): 144.
• Spack, Ruth. America's Second Tongue: American Indian Education and the Ownership of English, 1860-1900. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 2002.
• Townsend, Kenneth William. World War II and the American Indian. 1st ed. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2000.

More papers on Navajo Code Talkers in WWII:

• Essay # 1851 : "Unusual Allies: The Navajo Code Talkers"
• Film Review # 119389 : "Review of "In Search of History: Navajo Code Talkers"

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