Navajo Code Talkers

The Navajo people believe that creation began in another world. Originally the Navajo began as insects on the first world. Due to continuous quarrelling the leaders of the realm force them

Navajo culture distinctively took hold in the four corners area of the Colorado Plateau around 100 A.D., although they are believed to have been around for centuries before then. Disliking the term “Navajo Indians”, they refer to themselves as the “Diné” which means “The People” or “Children of the Holy People”.

Although this idea had been successfully implemented during World War I using the Choctaw Indian's language, history generally credits Philip Johnston for the idea to use Navajos to transmit code

For the purpose of this project, our group has decided to focus on Native American culture and their non-verbal communication patterns. We chose to focus on Native American culture due to their unique methods of communication. What makes this culture so distinct is the way in which they encompass their values into their communication methods. Their communication methods are unlike most cultures and are even utilized within Western culture in modern day.

Although, the ritual has been passed on from generation to generation, how the Navajo rituals are ways of communication has been questioned by so many. Many believe that it way for the patient to come into “…harmony…

And for the Code Talkers, years and years later, when they could finally discuss the code, “Senator Jeff Bingaman . . . proposed the ‘Honoring the Navajo Code Talkers Act’ . . . the act called for recognition for the code talkers” (Nez 256). Both saved the day and both oppressor groups were largely grateful for their sacrifices and for their differences that made it possible.

“Navajo trading has been a crucial component of that tribe's localized economy for generations and has been the subject of much scholarship over the years (Kiser, 2012).” Trading is what has really distinguished the Navajo from other cultures. They traded with the Spanish at first and then on to other tribes. They were first introduced to a horse from being able to establish trade with the Spanish in the 1620’s. Many other native cultures went

knew that Native American languages, notably Choctaw, had been used in World War I to

Native American code transmission began in World War I, with the Choctaw Indians (Meadows, “Honoring”). “Because the Native languages were not based on European languages or

The Navajo Nation is the largest Native American group in America today, and is the biggest Indian reservation in the United States. Situated in the northeastern part of Arizona and in the northwestern part of New Mexico, it is comprised of nearly ten million acres, or roughly fifteen thousand square miles. In this research paper the author will discuss at least three aspects of the Navajo culture that will include the kinship that the Navajo have with each other, the social structure within Navajo society, the economic organization that sustains the culture and their beliefs and values that

The houses Navajo Indians used to live in were called Hogan’s. A Hogan was made of logs, brush, and earth. The Navajo summer houses were also utilized and made of brush with a windbreak. The Navajo Indians are separated within two clans to live together. The two clans were immediate family and extended family.

The various types utilized different dialects, different code words and phrases, and having different Indian languages spoken. In the war many different tribes were enlisted into the army as code talkers.

The Navajo, also known as the Diné, are one of the largest Native American Tribes in the world. Their culture is made up of very distinct and unique characteristics that have been passed down from generation to generation. They have been taught to adapt to their surroundings and to the land. Each moral, standard, belief and value are what make the Navajo so unique to the Native Americans. In the following, their primary mode of subsistence, kinship system, beliefs, values, and economic organizations will be briefly examined to gain a better knowledge of the Navajo culture.

“What I’m about to tell you, Corporal, cannot leave this room. Under no circumstances can you allow your code talker to fall into enemy hands. Your mission is to protect the code… at all cost.” In the movie, Windtalkers, this is how a commander wants his marine to treat the paired Navajo code talker. That is, if it’s necessary, his marine could kill the Navajo, just like abandoning one of his properties. Even in the mid 1900s, the Native Americans were still treated not as human beings, but rather, machines; therefore, it is not hard for us to imagine how even more frightening the Native Americans’ circumstances were in the early days when they were first colonized by the western settlers. In Deborah Miranda’s “Indian

American settlers started to pour into the area and raids began. There were attempts to negotiate treaties between eighteen-forty-six and eighteen-forty-nine but the Navajo, with a population of twelve thousand, were very scattered, and could not have coordinated discussions.