New exhibits spotlight Code Talkers

As the United States neared the end of the 19th century, the federal government's assimilation policy threatened to eradicate the native languages of hundreds of Indian tribes, including tribes that had moved to what is now Oklahoma.

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Jeff Moore, exhibits director at the Oklahoma History Center, stands with the Code Talkers exhibit that will open Nov. 10 at the Oklahoma History Center. BY PAUL B. SOUTHERLAND, THE OKLAHOMAN

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"By the time World War I began, the speakers of native languages had become a quantifiable statistic," said researcher Matt Reed of the Oklahoma History Center. "Boardingschools and other institutions habitually punished children for speaking the language of their ancestors. They could do that only in clandestine situations."

In 1917, when U.S. troops entered World War I in France, 15 Choctaw soldiers in the 36th Division used their native language to communicate between units and avoid eavesdropping by the Germans. The effort was so successful that in 1940, before the U.S. entered World War II, the Army recruited 17 Comanches from Oklahoma to develop a code based on the Comanche language. That led to the famous "Code Talkers," American Indians who played major battlefield communication roles during World War II.

On Nov. 10, the Oklahoma History Center will unveil a special exhibit to celebrate the tremendous roles of Code Talkers from Oklahoma in World Wars I and II. The exhibit will be called "Hidden Voices, Coded Words," focusing on Choctaw and Comanche Code Talkers. The exhibit will continue through Jan. 15.

"This will be a tremendous event at the Oklahoma Museum of History," said Bob Blackburn, executive director of the Oklahoma Historical Society. "In conjunction with our exhibit on Oklahoma Code Talkers, a National Museum of the American Indian traveling exhibit on U.S. Indian Code Talkers will make its debut at the Oklahoma Museum of History. It will be called ‘Native Words, Native Warriors.'

"As a result, the Oklahoma Museum of History will present the opening of two major exhibits that celebrate the unique communications efforts of American Indians in World Wars I and II. Beyond these remarkable achievements, Code Talkers helped revitalize native languages across Oklahoma after the war."

Code Talkers often served as radio operators, using their native languages to send messages that could not be deciphered by the enemy.

They played major roles in battlefield situations such as providing the positions of enemy targets to artillery units. The enemy could not decipher those messages in order to avoid the artillery fire.

Reed said, "In addition to the Comanches and Choctaws, our research led to many other Indian veterans who used their languages to deprive the enemy of information during World War II. They included Pawnee, Creek/Seminole, Kiowa, Cherokee, Osage, Cheyenne and Sac and Fox Indians. None of these codes were ever broken by the Germans or Japanese."

These and other Code Talkers were not always trained for this work, Reed said. Rather, some did their code talking in impromptu ways — most of them temporary.

The six decades since the end of World War II have eroded the memory of many of these men, "so we will never know all of their contributions," Reed said.

"The unique aspect of the Comanche Code Talkers is that they invented a code, using their language," Reed said. "Not only was this ‘coded' for non-Comanche speakers, but other Comanches were not able to decipher what was being said."

The Comanche Code Talkers served in the 4th Signal Company of the 4th Infantry Division in World War II from Utah Beach during the Normandy invasion June 6, 1944, to V-E Day on May 8, 1945.

At Normandy, Comanche Code Talker Larry Saupitty was assigned as the personal radio operator for Brig. Gen. Theodore Roosevelt Jr. "Saupitty sent the first message from Utah Beach to Allied headquarters in Comanche," Reed said.

"The exhibit title, ‘Hidden Voices, Coded Words,' refers to the inability of the German and Japanese troops to understand the languages they heard on telephone lines and radio waves," he said.

"The very nature of the Code Talkers was to hide their voices and words in plain sight. The title also refers to the largely unknown history of Indian Code Talkers in American history."

When the World War II veterans came home, many of the Code Talkers provided the weight behind a burgeoning desire to revitalize native languages across Oklahoma. Roderick Red Elk, a Comanche Code Talker, initiated the Comanche Language and Cultural Preservation Committee. Forrest Kassanvoid, another Comanche Code Talker, taught Comanche lessons from his home.

Reed said the legacy of the Choctaw Code Talkers provided an impetus for the Choctaw Nation's language program.

Blackburn said, "All Oklahomans can take pride in that legacy. The Code Talkers of Oklahoma tribes not only played a tremendous role in World War II; they served America when America needed them most. And they proved once again that we are all Oklahomans and Americans, regardless of our individual heritage."

Max Nichols writes a monthly column for the Oklahoma Historical Society.

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