Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War II
by Joseph Bruchac
Bruchac, J. (2005). Code talker: A novel about the Navajo Marines of World War II. New York: Dial Books.
I was originally attracted to Joseph Bruchac’s Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War II because I had seen a movie on this subject (Windtalkers). But I enjoyed this book much more. It’s fascinating to me that after Americans spent so many years trying to suppress the Navajo language, they used this same cultural element so successfully as a code that the Japanese could not break during the war in the pacific. Talk about historical irony.
Although the story’s hero, Ned Begay, is fictional, he represents the many Navajo Indians who were in some of the bloodiest battles of W.W. II, saving the lives of countless American soldiers just by speaking in their native tongue. It made me curious if this and/or other American Indian languages are presently taught in any schools that offer non-traditional languages, like ASL.
I think Code Talker is an excellent book for teenagers in many ways. Besides having a good writing style and exciting settings, it illuminates a heroic Native American culture while inspiring others to take pride in their own heritage.
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