Navajo code talkers, once unable to even talk about the role they played in World War II, are now lauded as heroes. How much do you know about these brave men? Let's take a closer look at the veterans and their accomplishments and honor their part in WWII:

1. While the Navajo Code Talkers are most famous from World War II, the military used indigenous language as a means for code during World War I. Then, members of the Choctaw nation wrote and transcribed messages to help the war effort after their commanding officers overheard them speaking Choctaw. France bestowed the entire Choctaw Nation the Chevalier de l’Order National du Merite in gratitude for the vital work the men did.

2. The idea of using Navajo as a way to create unbreakable codes against the Axis Powers -- Nazi Germany, Japan, and Italy -- in WWII came from a veteran of WWI. Phillip Johnson, the white son of a Christian missionary, had grown up on a Navajo Reservation and had learned the language in his youth. It is possible that he came across the idea of indigenous languages being used as code during his service in WWI. After Pearl Harbor, he proposed using Navajo, specifically, as a code to the Marines.

3. There were 29 original code talkers. By the end of the war, there were more than 400. Native Americans from at least 14 other nations and tribes were among those 400, working to keep the Axis from breaking encrypted, vitally important information.

4. During the time they served, Native Americans were subject to many racist and unconscionable policies in the United States. Some states actively worked to bar Native Americans from voting by using similar tactics that were used to keep African Americans from the polls. In fact, their right to vote wasn’t secured until the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

5. Code talkers volunteered and were drafted. Some were so excited to participate that they lied about their age, while others did not wish to participate but had no choice. Roughly 25 percent of all Native American men were in the military during WWII; the highest of any group of people during the war.

6. Codes were split into two types: Type One and Type Two. Type One was a code created from Native American language and used for very important messages that could not run the risk of being broken. Type Two was a code that basically was a direct translation from English to Navajo and the back to English.

7. Code talkers were integral to the success of individual battles and campaigns. They were on Utah Beach during D-Day and have been credited with the reason Marines were able to take Iwo Jima.

8. For more than 20 years, code talkers couldn’t speak about or receive recognition for their contributions during WWII. Only in 1968 was the program declassified.

9. Recognition for these brave men has been a long time coming. August 14, 1982 was declared by then-President Ronald Reagan as Navajo Code Talkers’ Day. In 2000, the original 29 code talkers were awarded the Congressional Gold Medals; in 2007, all surviving code talkers from all tribes were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal. Source

"I personally have always believed in personal reparations to give back to the people who have shaped our land"

Lana Del Rey has revealed that she donated an advance payment from her latest book to provide clean water for some of the most vulnerable communities of America’s Navajo Nation.

In an Instagram post, Del Rey revealed how the payment, which she received for the book Violet Bent Backwards Over The Grass, has been donated to the Dig Deep Water project.

“No matter what the results of the election just remember we can each as individuals shine brightly and contribute to our world in our own individual way,” she wrote.

“As I’ve been lucky enough to be given an advance from Simon and Schuster, I’m so grateful to be able to spread that money around to foundations that are in need of our help beginning with foundations connected to the Navajo community.

“We hope the @digdeepwater project will find relief with the $350,000 that we delivered to them last month. I personally have always believed in personal reparations to give back to the people who have shaped our land.

“I look forward to updating you on the rest of the donations that we make throughout the year.”

Her comments accompanied a video which showed how many natives of the American Indian territory are struggling to gain access to clean water.

The generous gesture comes after Del Rey debuted an a-capella cover of ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’, which will feature in a new documentary focusing on the fortunes of Liverpool FC.

She shared a black-and-white video which sees her performing an a-capella rendition of the classic track.
The new effort comes after Del Rey returned with new single ‘Let Me Love You Like A Woman’, the first track to arrive from her upcoming album ‘Chemtrails Over The Country Club’.
Source

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No matter what the results of the election just remember we can each as individuals shine brightly and contribute to our world in our own individual way. As I’ve been lucky enough to be given an advance from Simon and Schuster, I’m so grateful to be able to spread that money around to foundations that are in need of our help beginning with foundations connected to the Navajo community. We hope the @digdeepwater project will find relief with the $350,000 that we delivered to them last month. I personally have always believed in personal reparations to give back to the people who have shaped our land. I look forward to updating you on the rest of the donations that we make throughout the year.

A post shared by Lana Del Rey (@lanadelrey) on Nov 3, 2020 at 8:32pm PST

As COVID-19 cases on the Navajo Nation reach 1,127 with 44 deaths, the Navajo & Hopi Families COVID-19 Relief Fund is building momentum to address a food and water crisis in the area with support from actor Jason Momoa.

A massive truck carrying 28 pallets with 1,540 cases of water was sent by Momoa to Tó naneesdizí (Tuba City) on Tuesday.

A group of volunteers led by Lt. Robbin Preston, Tuba City Distribution Team Leader for the Navajo & Hopi Families COVID-19 Relief Effort, unloaded the donation and prepared it for immediate distribution throughout the crisis-stricken area. "Water is life and shapes lives and the earth; it’s the power we draw life from," said Lt. Preston.

Momoa, who is Native Hawaiian, heard about the Relief Fund through an article and offered a large donation of water through his company, Mananalu Pure Water, which is an effort to end single-use plastic drinking bottles and their devastating impacts on the environment. According to the company’s website Mananalu means “a powerful wave of the sacred spirit of life.”

Can’d Aid, a Colorado based non-profit, shipped 48,000 cans of water for relief efforts last week.

“Access to clean water is a necessity while our communities are urged to shelter in place.” said Ethel Branch, Relief Fund Founder and Arizona Co-Lead. “We are extremely grateful for all of the amazing support in our efforts to ensure families have enough food and water to sustain themselves through this crisis. Whether it’s one truckload brought by a community member or these incredible donations from Jason Momoa’s Mananalu Pure Water company and Can’d Aid, every contribution is extremely important and amplifies our goal of working together to help our precious elders and those most vulnerable in this time of crisis.”


With more than 30 percent of the 180,000 residents on the Navajo reservation having little to no access to running water or electricity, and 3 of the 12 Hopi Villages largely without running water or electricity, the COVID-19 pandemic has intensified a decades-long infrastructure crisis. One-third of Navajo and Hopi families in this area must travel miles to haul water, while only 16 grocery stores and small food markets serve the entire area.

"Access to water is a human right that has been denied our people for far too long,” said Janene Yazzie, New Mexico Lead. “Now we are dealing with the repercussions of that and it’s costing the lives of our precious loved ones. As we grapple with this epidemic we will not lose sight of the need to have this basic human right fulfilled and our responsibility to protect our sacred waters for food sovereignty and water security for future generations."


In addition to limited access to water resources, the region is plagued with 523 abandoned uranium mine claims on or near the Navajo Nation, including 609 mine sites and 1,265 mine features, such as waste piles and mine openings. These mines and related sites have contributed to severe rates of cancer and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has identified 22 wells on Navajo Nation as exceeding safe drinking water standards due to high levels of radioactive contamination. Some Hopi Villages have drinking water that is three times the legal limit for arsenic. For more than forty years Navajo and Hopi springs and wells on Black Mesa were impacted by coal mining operations. Today many of these springs and wells have dried up. Some 1.2 billion gallons of clean drinking water a year were pumped from the precious N-Aquifer and used for mining operations. Even with the mine shutdown, families in the region continue to face water scarcity. Additionally, the Navajo Nation is also still recovering from the 2015 Gold King Mine spill where EPA contractors released more than 3 million gallons of mine waste into waterways that Diné families rely upon to practice traditional lifeways by irrigating their fields and watering their livestock.


The Navajo Nation is expected to become one of the top three hot spots in the country per-capita for COVID-19 cases. The Navajo Nation is about the size of the state of West Virginia, yet while West Virginia has a population of 1.8 million, the Navajo Nation has 1/10th its population and has 200 more COVID-19 cases. Huffington Post reports that the number of COVID-19 cases on the Nation “surged 367% in two weeks.”

“In many homes on the reservation, there are multi-generational families that live there. The virus is attacking this important family unit by spreading among entire families who cannot isolate from each other,” said Jessica Stago, Water Coordinator for the Relief Effort. “Providing food and water for these families is essential to an effective strategy to stop this pandemic in our communities.”

With these water donations, the Navajo & Hopi Families COVID-19 Relief Effort will be able to include water in their food baskets, which already provide enough food to last receiving households two weeks. So far the effort has served over 1500 families in almost 40 communities on the Navajo Nation and in 4 of the 12 Villages on Hopi. Through collaboration with their fiscal sponsor, the Rural Utah Project, and Bluff Area Mutual Aid volunteers, the Relief Effort has been able to serve an additional 342 families (1,450 people) in Utah communities. The Relief Effort now has full access to its over $700,000 in GoFundMe dollars, which has enabled it to deliver almost $100,000 in food, cleaning, and PPE supplies to locations all throughout the Navajo Nation this week. This week they also sent a pallet of water donated by Home Depot in Flagstaff to Hard Rock, one of the new COVID-19 hotspots, for distribution to families that live in remote areas with no running water.

“With our sacred waterways polluted and our wells contaminated by uranium or drained by coal mining, we have had our immune systems continuously attacked through degradation and poisoning of our Mother Earth,” said Kim Smith, Northern Agency Lead. “But just as our bodies have natural defenses to fight diseases, we have been fighting here in ceremony and prayer to ensure our ways of life are protected for coming generations. Right now, staying home, social distancing, wearing masks, washing our hands, and safely and responsibly contributing to relief work is our way to keep walking in beauty.”

SOURCE:  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 18, 2020 Cassandra Begay www.navajohopisolidarity.org 

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SUPER STOKED AND PROUD TO DELIVER @mananalu.water Last week we sent a full truckload (20,000 cans) of Mananalu water to the Navajo Nation. My water company is still small but I’m doing what I can to help those that need it the most MAHALO NUI @theellenshow for helping us spread the aloha Thanks to the Navajo and Hopi Families COVID-19 Relief campaign (@navajohopicovid19relief) for helping us distribute our water to the families. This is a grassroots effort led by a group of Navajo women who work 14 hours a day with no pay in order to raise funds and support for Navajo families in need during this terrible pandemic. That’s amazing. • Native American tribes are among the highest risk communities during the corona virus pandemic, and a lot of them haven’t gotten the resources they need to fight the virus. This includes medical equipment and basic goods like food and clean water • About 40% of the residents live in rural areas and have little to no access to running water • They’re literally living in a “food desert” with very few grocery stores and the land is very spread out. Many families have to travel several miles just to haul water. FILM COMING SOON BY @deidrapeaches on our youtube channel. #mananalu.water #navajonation. ALOHA J

A post shared by Jason Momoa (@prideofgypsies) on Apr 19, 2020 at 4:58pm PDT

“My ancestors fought and died on these lands. I just told them, ‘Don’t ask me that question,’” said the Navajo lawmaker.

It seems like President Donald Trump’s supporters breathe, eat and sleep racism. They don’t have any idea of what a diverse world looks like and make a point of troubling anyone who isn’t white.

Just recently, a group of Trump supporters protested against immigration at the Arizona Capitol and to make their point, they used the most cringe-worthy tactics. They reportedly used racist language against non-white or dark-skinned people, some of who were there to ask the Arizona Legislature to support immigration reforms.

The protesters were reportedly armed. They waved large flags in support of the commander-in-chief, standing between the state House and Senate buildings, as they asked everyone who crossed their path if they “support illegal immigration.”

‘Get out of the country!’: Navajo lawmaker harassed by Arizona Trump supporters accusing him of being here ‘illegally’ 

They also called some dark-skinned people “illegal” and told them to “go home.”


One of the people targeted by the racist supporters is a Navajo lawmaker, Rep. Eric Descheenie (D-Chinle).

The lawmaker was asked if he was living in the United States “illegally.”

Descheenie was trying to help a young student who was being harassed by the Trump supporters when he got targeted himself.

“I’m indigenous to these lands,” said Descheenie. “My ancestors fought and died on these lands. I just told them, ‘Don’t ask me that question.’”


Policy advisors for state Senate Democrats, Lisette Flores and Selianna Robles, were also yelled at as they were passing die-heart Trump supporters to get lunch at a farmers market.

Seeing this situation, three white coworkers offered to escort Flores, Robles and Democratic staffer Dora Ramirez back to their offices, Robles said.


“We’re walking back, and they start yelling again, ‘Get out of the country.’ At that point, they pointed to Lisette, called her an illegal, and said, ‘Get out, go back home!’” Robles said. “But they pointed at Jane (Ahern), who works for the House, and they said, ‘No, you can stay.’”
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Trump supporters continue to question if Arizona State Rep. Eric Descheenie, a Navajo American legislator, is here ‘illegally’. Let that level of stupid sink in for a moment. pic.twitter.com/C2kxKenqz1

— James F. Haning II (@jameshaning) August 27, 2018

A team of Navajo high school students will travel to Mexico City next week to represent North America in an international robotics competition, The Associated Press reported Tuesday.

The group from southern Utah was specially invited to the First Global Challenge, which starts on Aug. 14. Teams from more than 190 countries will attend the competition, which this year will focus on energy sources.

The Navajo team has competed in robotics for the last two years, and is among the best in the state despite only 30 students total attending the high school. The students began working on their robot for the upcoming competition in June.

“The kids are really patient. They’re used to jumping through a lot of different hoops,” teacher Heather Anderson told the AP.

“That’s what’s really special about this team; they’re really proud of their work," she added.

Separate teams will represent the United States, Canada and Mexico, specifically, the AP reported.


In Mexico City, each team will be charged with building a robot that has to work with other countries to accomplish an objective, the AP reported. Since many teams will face a language barrier, the students will need to collaborate using hand gestures and other methods.

The First Global Challenge, which is in its second year, aims to encourage kids around the world to take an interest in science and technology.

“Were it not for the Navajos, the Marines would have never taken Iwo Jima,” Marine Maj. Howard Connor once said of a famous and pivotal battle. He served as a signal officer for the Marines’ Code Talker unit during the Iwo Jima campaign.

 The Navajo Code Talkers were not so much the silent warriors of World War II as they were the indecipherable heroes of the Japanese theater of combat.

The Code Talkers, many of whom were from New Mexico, used their native language to confound the Japanese in planning battles, calling for reinforcements and transmitting requests for food, ammunition or medicine.

Many military historians credit them with helping to win the war.

Now one of few Code Talkers still living, state Sen. John Pinto, D-Gallup, wants to honor their legacy with a museum.

On Tuesday, he moved one small step closer to that goal after the Senate Indian and Cultural Affairs Committee unanimously voted for a bill asking the Legislature to allocate $1 million to build a Navajo Code Talkers museum and veterans center in New Mexico, near the Arizona border.


Pinto, sponsor of the bill, presented it by facing an assembly of some 25 people, many of them Native Americans. Then the senator, who estimates he is 93 years old (birthdates on the Navajo Nation often were imprecise), recounted with quiet emotion the contribution Navajos made to winning the war.

His head bowed, his hands clasped together as in prayer, Pinto spoke of the Japanese aerial attack on Pearl Harbor that led to America’s entry into the war, and of the 2,335 U.S. servicemen killed in that attack.

“I hope it never happens again,” he said.

He then recounted how Navajos were recruited to join the Marines as a special unit of Code Talkers who would use their native language to confuse the enemy’s cryptography experts.


The Navajo Diné language, which few non-Navajos understood, was unwritten. Code strategists devised a 200-plus word code from it.

Many Code Talkers, who also took part in combat missions, died overseas and are buried far from their native land, Pinto said.

Still, building a museum in honor of Code Talkers would not be easy.

The Legislative Finance Committee’s fiscal analysis of the bill says the Indian Affairs Department has concerns about the costs for design and construction, which could in turn limit money for operations and programming. The Indian Affairs Department said other funding “would be necessary for the continued operation of the project.”

But the $1 million that New Mexico would invest in the planned museum is just one source of funding, said Mark Freeland, a spokesman for the Navajo Nation. He said the nonprofit Navajo Code Talkers Foundation is also raising money for the project.


The 140-acre property designated for the museum was donated to the Navajo Code Talkers Foundation by the Chevron Mining company, Freeland told the committee.

Many who attended the hearing spoke in favor of Pinto’s proposal.

Carmen Moffett of Gallup told the committee that her father, Newton Moffett, served with the Army during World War II. She said opening the museum “would be a historic moment.”

“I would like, in my lifetime, to see something like this happen,” she said. “If not, then in the lifetime of my son.”


Her son, Del Norte Elementary School fifth-grader Hunter Whitehair of Gallup, said the museum could be an important destination for school field trips so children “can learn about our culture and not forget about our contributions to the war.”


Some senators on the committee asked Pinto and Freeman if the museum would include information on Code Talkers from other tribes and nations, including Comanches. Freeman said that is a possibility. The bill next goes to the Senate Finance Committee.
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