A statewide tour of Congressional medals awarded to Native American code talkers and their tribes ended in the Black Hills yesterday/on Veterans Day. SDPB’s Jim Kent visited with a Native American spokesperson for the South Dakota National Guard to discuss the medals and their importance to tribal people.
Mention the phrase “code talkers’ to most people and they’ll respond “Navajo” if they know what the phrase means. That’s because the 29 Navajo men who comprised the original unit of Marine Corps code talkers during World War Two have received considerable attention over the last 40 years. Their notoriety grew with the 2002 film “Windtalkers”.
The use of Navajo words as a code for U.S. forces was vital to their victories across the Pacific, especially on Iwo Jima. But the Navajo weren’t the only tribe who used their Native language to aid America during conflicts.
In fact, members of 33 Native American tribes served as code talkers for the U.S. military in World War Two and in World War One. Army Master Sergeant Jim Bad Wound says representatives from 8 tribes among the Oceti Sakowin…or Great Sioux Nation…were among them.
“The Army used the Lakota code talkers,” explains Bad Wound. “And they didn’t really recruit them. They just basically said, ‘Hey! Can you speak your language? You know of anybody else that can speak your language? We’re gonna’ make you radio men. So, that’s basically how they got started.”
Among the 67 code talkers from South Dakota tribes were Clarence Wolf Guts, Simon Broken Leg, Charles White Pipe, Sr. and Anthony Omaha Boy.
Code talker family members took part in an honoring ceremony for their relatives at Crazy Horse Mountain on Veterans Day. Each family was given a set of dog tags with their code talker’s name, tribal affiliation and the conflict they served in.
Master Sergeant Bad Wound says it’s important to give recognition to these men…many of whom were sworn to secrecy. But now their story can be told.