1 minute read
READING 4 Navajo Code Talkers
Navajo Code Talkers
Read the following article. Pay special attention to the words in bold. 5.7
Advertisement
American Indian languages are very complicated. There are many different languages, and each one has several dialects1. One of these languages is the Navajo language. Very few non-Navajos can speak or understand it. One exception was Philip Johnston. Johnston was not an American Indian, but he grew up on the Navajo reservation and spoke the language fluently.
In World War II, the United States was at war with Japan. The Japanese were very skillful at breaking codes2. They got too much classified3 information. The military needed a better solution. Johnston had an idea: to use Navajo Indians to create a code in their language.
In 1942, Johnston met with several American military men and explained his idea. At first, they weren’t interested. Then Johnston met with Major James E. Jones of the Marines and spoke a few Navajo words to him. He convinced the major to give his idea a try.
The Marines recruited4 29 speakers of Navajo to create a code based on their language. There were only a few military words in the Navajo language, so the Navajos had to develop a lot of words for these things. For example, a commanding general was a “war chief,” a battleship was a “whale,” and a submarine was an “iron fish.”
In the first two days of code talking, more than 800 messages were sent without any errors. About 400 Navajos participated in the code program. During and after the war, they got little recognition for their great help in World War II. Too many years went by before they were finally honored for their service. It wasn’t until 1992 that the U.S. government honored the Navajo code talkers for their help in winning major battles of the war.
1 dialect: a regional variety of language 2 code: a system of hiding the real meaning of a message 3 classified: secret; only meant to be seen by authorized people 4 to recruit: to look for and choose people to join the military
A parade in Monument Valley, Arizona, U.S.
