Diné Bizaad yee Nidaazbaaʼígíí 

(Navajo) Code Talkers 

By: Brianna Derrick 

Spring 2020 
  

 
 
 
 
 
Table of Contents 
Overview 3 
Who were the Code Talkers and how did they help the United States? 3 
Language Used 3 

A Note on the Physical Box 4 

Index of Items 5 

Sources 6 
Source 1 Code Talker Song 6 
Source 2 Official Letter 7 
Source 3 Meskwaki Code Talkers 9 
Source 4 Iowa Heritage Illustrated Article 10 
Source 5 A Code Talker’s Story 14 
Source 6 Code Talker Deployment Maps 15 
Source 7 Code Dictionary 16 
Source 8 Code Talkers at Iwo Jima 17 
Book 1 The Unbreakable Code 18 
Source 9 2004 Hearing 20 
Source 10 Gold Medals 23 

Annotated Bibliography 24 

 

   
  

Overview 
Who were the Code Talkers and how did they help the United States? 
During WWII everyone was trying to come up with new and better 
codes that the other side wouldn’t be able to crack. Codes were time 
consuming and took a long time to come up with, learn, and decode. In WWI 
some Native Americans helped transmit codes in their language but the war 
ended before it was used much. When WWII came around, some people wanted 
to use the language of Native Americans once again. In Iowa, forty-six 
Meskwaki soldiers served, eight of them as Code Talkers. 

Language Used 
The  language  used  in some of these historical documents is dated and 
we  no  longer  use  it.  This  language  is  now  seen  as  offensive  and hurtful to 
the  people it is used to describe. Some of the spelling and tribal names are 
also different than the ones we use now. 
The  term  we  no  longer  use  is  “Indian”.  Now  we  use  the  terms  “Native 
Americans”  or  “Indigenous  People”.  Additionally  the  name  of  the  tribe  or 
nation can be used to describe that specific group. 
 
 
Spelling Used by the Nation  Spellings in Some Documents 

Meskwaki  Mesquakie 

Navajo  Navaho 
 
 
Some  sources  refer  to  the  Sac  and  Fox  tribe.  The  Sac  and  Fox  is  a 
confederacy that includes the Meskwaki and the Sauk tribes. 
 
 
Explore the box in the order that the sources are listed (1-10). The 
book should be read between sources 8 and 9. 
  

A Note on the Physical Box 

 
My recommendation for the physical box is that it should look like a 
code talker radio, as pictured in my drawing on the cover sheet. 
I would also suggest having manilla folders for each of the sources 
with titles in code but numbers still as digits. The students will look at 
the sources in order so the numbers will help if things get a little mixed 
up. I would also put the full English name inside the folder, but so that it 
would not be visible before the folder was opened. 
A few of the sources require a computer so one would have to be 
available for the students to look at those sources. 
 
The translated sources would be as follows: 
 
Aaníinii 1- Diné Bizaad yee Nidaazbaaʼígíí​ ​Sin 

Aaníinii 2- Wááshindoon Naaltsoos 

Aaníinii 3- Meskwaki Bizaad yee Nidaazbaaʼígíí 

Aaníinii 4- Iowa Heritage Illustrated Beh-eh-ho-zinz 

Aaníinii 5- Wol-la-chee Diné Bizaad yee Nidaazbaaʼígíí’s Bahaneʼ 

Aaníinii 6- Diné Bizaad yee Nidaazbaaʼígíí A-kwe-eh Kah-ya-nesh-chai 

Aaníinii 7- Diné Bizaad yee Nidaazbaaʼígíí Lexike 

Aaníinii 8- Diné Bizaad yee Nidaazbaaʼígíí Ah-di Iwo Jima 

Naaltsoos 1- ​The Unbreakable Code 

Aaníinii 9- 2004 Wááshindoon Áłah néiidleehígíí 

Aaníinii 10- Óola Kut   

  

Index of Items 
 
Source 1- Code Talker Song 
Navajo Code Talkers. (2006, September 4). Retrieved from 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZuOiqo1glk 
 
Source 2- Official Letter 
"Enlistment of Navajo Indians" The Commandment, US Marine Corps. March 6, 
1942 
https://www.archives.gov/research/native-americans/military/cod
e-talkers.html 
 
Source 3- Meskwaki Code Talkers 
Meskwaki Code Talkers. (1941, February 26). Marshalltown Times 
Republican. Retrieved from 
https://iowaculture.gov/history/education/educator-resources/pr
imary-source-sets/westward-expansion-and-native-americans/mes
kwaki-code-talkers 
 
Source 4- Iowa Heritage Illustrated Article 
Bennett, M. (2003). Meskwaki Code Talkers. Iowa Heritage Illustrated, 
154–156. 
 
Source 5- A Code Talker’s Story  
Brown, B. (2018, January 29). The Code That Couldn't Be Broken. Retrieved 
from 
https://junior.scholastic.com/issues/2017-18/012918/the-code-tha
t-couldn-t-be-broken.html#830L 
 
Source 6- Code Talker Deployment Maps  
Kimble, S. T. (n.d.). Code Talking. ​Code Talking​. 
 
Source 7- Code Dictionary 
Navajo Code Talker Dictionary. (2020, April 16). Retrieved from 
https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-ro
  

om/title-list-alphabetically/n/navajo-code-talker-dictionary.ht
ml 
 
Source 8- Code Talkers at Iwo Jima 
MacDonald, P. (2019, February 18). Code Talkers at Iwo Jima. Retrieved from 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmiqnAQTTCI 
 
Book 1- ​The Unbreakable Code 
The Unbreakable Code​. Sara Hoagland-Hunter. 1996 
 
Source 9- 2004 Hearing 
Committee on Indian Affairs, United States Senate, One Hundred Eighth 
Congress. Contributions of Native American Code Talkers in American 
Military History. (2004). 
 
Source 10- Gold Medals 
Speer, J. (2013, November 29). Congressional Gold honor Meskwaki Code 
Talkers. T ​ oledo Chronicle, Tama News-Herald​. Retrieved from 
http://www.tamatoledonews.com/page/content.detail/id/516370/Cong
ressional-Gold-honor-Meskwaki-Code-Talkers.html?nav=5006 

 
   
  

Sources 

Source 1 Code Talker Song 

 
Video Link: ​Navajo Code Talkers 
 
DBQ​: What weapon did the Code Talkers use during the war? 
DBQ​: What did Code Talkers do on the radios? 
  

Source 2 Official Letter 

 
  

 
 
DBQ​: What did the demonstration show? 
DBQ​: Why did Mr. Johnston want to use people from the Navajo tribe for the 
code?   
  

Source 3 ​Meskwaki Code Talkers 

 
 
DBQ​: What kind of equipment did the Code Talkers use? 
DBQ​: What kinds of things did Code Talkers have to learn in training?   
  

Source 4 Iowa Heritage Illustrated Article

 
 

 
  

Follow ​this link​ to the full article! 

 
This is a full copy of the text article but the link provides some 
more photos of people on the homefront during WWII. 
 
DBQ​: Why did the men decide to join? 
DBQ​: What happened the Meskwaki once they were in war? 
 

   
  

Source 5 A Code Talker’s Story 

 

 
Video Link: ​A Code Talker Tells His Story 
 
DBQ​: How did they come up with names for things that didn’t have names in 
Navajo? 
DBQ​: What does the Code Talker think of the Navajo language? 
 

   
  

Source 6 Code Talker Deployment Maps 

 

 
 
DBQ​: Where were the Iowans (Meskwaki) located? Which map is that? 
DBQ​: How many major battles did Code Talkers help in? 
 

   
  

Source 7 Code Dictionary 

 
Follow ​this link​ to look at the full dictionary! 
 
DBQ​: What are two ways you could say “battleship advance north”? Why is it 
good to be able to say this in multiple ways? 
DBQ​: Look at the names of ships and airplanes. What do the literal 
translations tell you about the English word? 
 

   
  

Source 8 Code Talkers at Iwo Jima  

 
Video Link:​ An Unbreakable Code 
 
Watch the video of the Code Talker talking about Iwo Jima and war. 
DBQ​: If the army only used English, what would have happened at Iwo Jima? 
DBQ​: What does the speaker ask you to never forget? Why?   
  

Book 1 ​The Unbreakable Code  

by Sara Hoagland Hunter 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  

 
 
Code Talker Questions 
 
What did the Code Talkers call America? How does this explain why 
the grandfather left? 
 
How did the grandfather feel about going to the government boarding 
school? Why? 
 
The grandfather is proud to be a Code Talker but he didn’t want to 
talk about some parts of it with John. Why does he say no? 
 
 
Theorizing Questions 
 
Why do you think they wouldn’t let the students speak in their 
language? 
 
Do you think the grandfather’s choice to enlist was easy? Why or why 
not? 
 
Would you have enlisted if you were in the same situation? 

 
  

Source 9 2004 Hearing 

 
  

 
Follow ​this link​ to read the full hearing! 
 
The statements included in this box are the statements made by 
Iowans. Many more people spoke about the need to recognize the Code 
Talkers for their service. 
 
DBQ​: Why is it important to give the Code Talkers an award for their 
service? 
DBQ​: Why is the timing of this important? Why do they say “time is of the 
essence”?  

   
  

Source 10 Gold Medals 

 
 
DBQ​: When did the Meskwaki get awarded? How 
does that compare to the date on the hearing? 
DBQ​: What does the medal show? 
 
 
 
 
 

   
  

Annotated Bibliography 
(n.d.). Retrieved from 
https://www.archives.gov/research/native-americans/military/cod
e-talkers.html 
 
Here you can find many documents pertaining to the history of the 
Code Talkers. It is a government run website and you can get many 
resources faxed to you if you know what they are (and they’re open). 
They have a whole section for Code Talkers where I was able to find 
resources that I hadn’t seen anywhere else.  
 
Behrman, S. (n.d.). Meskwaki History Timeline. Retrieved April 16, 2020, 
from 
http://meskwakipowwow.com/Meskwaki%20History/MeskinteractiveCD
1/Local%20Root%20Folder/TimeLineFinal.htm 
 
This is a great resource for learning about what happened to the 
Meskwaki tribe over time. The formatting and design of the website 
is not very finished but the next page with the bibliography is 
filled with more sources about the Meskwaki and they corroborate 
the dates and detail of the first page. 
 
Code Talking. (n.d.). Retrieved April 2020, from 
https://americanindian.si.edu/education/codetalkers/html/chapter
4.html 
 
I think that this resource was my favorite due to the organized 
information and kid-friendly set up. This website is great for 
student exploration and it offers lesson plans for teachers on how 
to teach about Code Talkers. 
 
Glosbe: the multilingual online dictionary. (n.d.). Retrieved from 
https://glosbe.com/ 
 
This resource helped me translate all of the source titles into 
Navajo. If it doesn’t find a word that is an exact match it will give 
  

suggestion words and text documents in the language that use the 
word. 
 
Lynch, J. Q. (2013, December 3). Iowa code talkers’ families to get medals, 
but hard feelings remain. Sioux City Journal. Retrieved from 
https://siouxcityjournal.com/news/local/military/iowa-code-talk
ers-families-to-get-medals-but-hard-feelings/article_982fe44f-c
ece-55e5-b696-b0fbdb8f06a4.html 
 
This is a more recent article that talks about how the Meskwaki’s 
families felt about getting the medals and what happened when they 
did. It is a reliable source as it incles interviews and even a video 
of people talking about what they think and the whole situation. 
 
MESKWAKI NATION. (2017). Retrieved from ​https://meskwaki.org/ 
 
This is a website run by the Meskwaki Nation. I used this source to 
learn about their history and that of the Sac and Fox tribe. It is a 
unique look into the lives and history of the Meskwaki Nation, in 
their own words. 
 
Reese, D. (2007, March 26). Children's Books on Navajo Code Talkers. 
Retrieved from 
https://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2007/0
3/childrens-books-on-navajo-code-talkers.html 
 
I used this source to help me find my children’s book. If offered a few 
different books about Code Talkers for grades 3 and up. It also gives 
some of the highlights of each book and some information about how 
they thought of themselves that many other sources did not cover.