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Navajo Indians were one of the determining factors in the United States victory over Japan in WWII. The United States and Navajo Indians problems began to escalate in the late 1860 s. In order to force the Navajo off their land, U. S. Colonel Kit Caron burned cornfields and gardens, killed livestock and game, as well as many Navajos. The survivors, now homeless, began three hundred mile walk to New Mexico.
At Fort Summer, the Navajo were treated as the Jews in Nazi Germany concentration camps. The Navajos never gave up hope, and in 1868, they were allowed to return to their homes. Many Navajos enlisted and fought in World War I, but their contribution went unrewarded. When Japan and Germany threatened the world with the beginning of World War II, 3, 600 out a population of 5, 000 Navajos enlisted to help the U. S.
armed forces in WWII. No contribution from any soldier would make as big of an impact as the Navajo Code Talkers in World War II. Sending messages between armies has caused problems for centuries. Secret codes have become messages that are now easily broken. Japanese control over hundred of islands over thousands of miles in the South Pacific made sending messages between allied forces a very difficult task. Japan had skilled military intelligence at tapping American communications.
This gave them a heads up of all planned attacks. At this point in the war, Japan was enjoying their military superiority. By 1942, Japan had gained control over most of the Pacific Ocean. Philip Johnston, a civil engineer for the city of Los Angelos, heard about an armored division in Louisiana that had been using Native American languages for secret communication. Johnston, having served as a Navajo translator to his parents in missionaries in the south, at a young age, knew that it was almost impossible for an adult to successfully acquire.
There are four different voice tones that are used by the Navajos. They are low, high, rising, and falling. Many words have the same pronunciation, but are said with different tones. The Navajos also use several words to represent the meanings of a single word. The language also reflects a world view that differs from other cultures. Johnston knew that the key to a rapid, accurate, and secret communication was to use the Navajo language, and use none other than the Navajos themselves.
The Navajo language is so isolated, only an estimated thirty people outside of the tribe knew the language as of 1940. It was even foreign to other Native American tribes. Johnston had successfully presented his idea of the formation of a Navajo code that in April of 1942, marine recruiters were sent to Navajo reservations in search of candidates. Because of a sketchy past, Navajos showed a great mistrust to U. S. armed forces, as well as the government.
Sadly, for the success of the Navajo code, education for the Navajos was poor and few Navajo knew how to speak English. Those who did know English were sent to training facilities, where they were run through long hours of calisthenics, basic training drills, lectures, and routine assignments. The Navajos first task was to develop a code for 211 words, and written documents to record those words were forbidden. They had four basic rules for creating the code.
These rules included, a logical connection to the word, a descriptive or narrative word was to be used for memorization, the words were short, and the avoided that had similar or sounds or meanings. Navajo code talking had many disadvantages. One included the sound of the Navajo language. The Navajo language sounded very similar to the Japanese language.
O few items when transmitting a message, the Navajo code would be mistaken for Japanese, leaving the U. S. officials panicked because of worries of Japanese attacks. Another disadvantage for the Navajo was their appearance.
While the Navajo came in many different shapes and sizes, the Navajo contained the black hair and eyes of that of Japanese. Unfortunately, this led to the deaths or undeserved treatment toward Native Americans. Navajos fighting in WWII were placed in situations they never had to face before. They had never seen the type of destruction that they saw overseas. They were out of their element, and forced to do things they never would have done.
When given food, they wouldnt eat because they felt that the belegannas (American soldiers) felt sympathy toward them, and no Navajo wanted to feel pitied. They were also forced to be surrounded by childish, evil spirits of the dead. They didnt like this because they believed that once a person died, they werent to be mentioned again, it helped their spirit settle into the next world. Despite all the hardships they went through, they were all proud to serve for the United States armed forces. Their efforts drastically helped Americans and Allied forces to fight against Germany and Japan without the Navajo code talkers, we may not have won the war, and our world would be something completely different than it is today. The Navajos beliefs and traditions were interesting to learn because the were trying to carry out their lifestyle with people who saw them as savages and didnt have any appreciation for their way of life.
Learning about the language was one of the more interesting aspects of the book. It perplexes me how a language so complex can be so well understood and spoken. Having voice inflections and usage of different words for the same meaning makes it no wonder the Japanese thought the Americans were talking gibberish on the radios. Now I want to tell some information about the Navajo healing ceremonies.
Typically in tiny round buildings, the Navajo singers call upon the powers of the Holy people. The holy people are the undying beings who the human share scared space of the Navajo land. The Dine (aka Navajo) attempt to influence the forces working within their environment with the help of singers trained to draw power and righteousness from the holy people. By the means of ceremonies, which we call chants the singers attempt to control the holy people in ways that are beneficial for human beings. The Navajo ceremonies are very multifaceted and scholars have spent years studying them.
But general observations such as weddings and house blessings prompt the need for ceremonies. These ceremonies last several days and require accuracy. With the ceremonies, there are not priest involved. The families of individuals who are suffering and who need ceremonies performed to help them; they contact individuals who focus in the performance of the particular chant that is required. The blessing away chant prevents disease and other misfortunes by drawing in blessings.
Holy way chants include sand painting and they have a distinctive Navajo design as you can see on page 229 that uses dry pulverized material. Each holy way chant begins which getting rid of wicked potentials of the holy people. This is considered cleansing and then they are followed by ceremonies aimed at attracting the goodness of the holy people. The holy way painting is made during the day and the chants focus on the painting at night. The paintings are painted on the floor of a ceremonial Hogan which is a small round building. The design of the paintings must be perfect or they will have to start over.
Healing is the chief purpose of what goes on in the Navajo religious life and the ceremonies that invoke the creative powers of the environment have real therapeutic effects. The Navajo ceremonies facilitate well being and cause people to feel infused with power and goodness by fostering a sense of attunement with powerful natural forces. References 1. Bergerson, Frederic A. and Jennifer Rangel.
Navajo Code Talkers and the Unbreakable Code. Metro Golden Mayer. < web >. 2. Grant, Meg. The Windtalkers. Readers Digest Nov. 2001: 118 - 123. 3. Paul, Doris A.
The Navajo Code Talkers. Philadelphia: Dorrance and Company, 1973. 4. Rosenberg, Jennifer. The Navajo Code Talkers. The Mining Company. < web >.
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Research essay sample on U S Armed Forces World War Ii
