“My Father the Navajo Code-Talker” – with Laura Tohe

Summary

Laura Tohe (Website) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss the stories of the WWII Navajo Code Talkers. Laura is a Diné author and the Poet Laureate of the Navajo Nation.  

What You’ll Learn

Intelligence

• How the Code Talking units were formed
• How the Navajo people used their language as a weapon
• Laura’s father, Benson Tohe’s story
• Did the Japanese ever break the code? 

Reflections

• The relationship between language and the state
• Storytelling and the power of oral history

And much, much more …

Episode Notes

Benson Tohe was a Navajo Code Talker. In this week’s episode, his daughter Laura speaks about her father, the Navajo Code Talkers, and the Navajo Nation, of which she is the Poet Laureate.  

This is one of the most fascinating stories in the history of cryptography, that of the Native American Code Talkers. In WWI Choctaw soldiers pioneered code-talking, using their own language to confuse and hide battlefield communication from the Germans. The Comanche Code Talkers followed the Choctaw onto the European battlefields in WWII, while this week’s episode looks at the Navajo Code Talkers who were deployed in the Pacific Theater. There were many other Code Talkers from more than a dozen Native Nations. 

And… 

The Navajo language is an example of one of many tonal languages around the world. Tonal languages are fascinating – Depending on the tone, or pitch, that the user places on the word, the meaning of that word can completely change. Navajo syllables can carry four different tones: high, low, rising, or falling. Other examples of tonal languages include Thai, Zulu, Punjabi, and Vietnamese!

Quotes of the Week

“When they got into the service they were told, ‘Now you're going to use your language to develop a code.’ They said, ‘But, back at home they told us not to speak Navajo, and now they want us to develop a code in Navajo?’ So, they were not only astounded, they were puzzled why they would be asked to do this when they were in a school where their identity was being erased.” – Laura Tohe.

Resources 

SURFACE SKIM

*SpyCasts*

• The 18-Year-Old Soviet Spy on the Manhattan Project: Ted Hall with Director Steve James (2023)
• ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL: “The D-Day Deception” with National WWII Museum Curator Corey Graff (2023)
• St. Ermin’s Hotel, London – The History of a Legendary Spy Site with Stephen Duffy (2023)
• Hitler’s Trojan Horse – Nazi Intelligence with Nigel West (2023) 

*Beginner Resources*

• 1942: Navajo Code Talkers, Intel.gov (n.d.) [short article]
• Basic Navajo Introduction, YouTube (2012) [3 min. video]
• American Indian Code Talkers, WWII Museum (n.d.) [short article]

*Featured Resource*

• Code Talker Stories, Laura Tohe (Rio Nuevo, 2012)

DEEPER DIVE

Books

• Code Talker: Memoir of a Navajo Code Talker, Chester Nez (Dutton Caliber, 2012) 
• The First Code Talkers: Choctaw, William Meadows (OUP, 2022)
• The Comanche Code Talkers of WWII, William Meadows (UOT, 2009)
• Search for the Navajo Code Talkers, Sally McLain (Rio Nuevo, 2012)

Articles

• Code Talkers Were America’s Secret Weapon in World War II, L. Tohe, National Endowment for the Humanities (2022)
• How Navajo Code Talker Marines Used Their Indigenous Language to Help Win World War II, S. Gohn, United Service Organizations (2021) 
• The Navajo Code Talkers of World War II: The Long Journey Towards Recognition, A. Dahl, The Santa Clara University Undergraduate Journal of History (2016)
• Code Talker day celebration set for Aug. 14, A. Landry, Navajo Times (2015) 
• Honoring Native American Code Talkers: The Road to the Code Talkers Recognition Act of 2008, W. Meadows, American Indian Culture and Research Journal (2011)
• Navajo Code Talkers and the Unbreakable Code, Central Intelligence Agency (2008) 

Video

• Comanche Code Talkers of WWII, Comanche Museum, YouTube (2013)
• Navajo Code Talkers, History Channel, YouTube (2018)

Primary Sources 

• Navajo Code Talkers: Oral History Interviews (various)
• Proclamation 4954 -- National Navaho Code Talkers Day (1982)
• Memorandum from Commander General Vogel to the Marine Corps Regarding Enlistment of "Navaho" Indians (1942)

*Wildcard Resource*

• Diné Bahaneʼ: The Navajo Creation Story