![]() ![]() ![]() Their native language will become a unique and valuable tool for use in the war effort. The Marine officials explain that since their Navajo language is so esoteric and difficult to learn, their language will become the basis for a code that will be used to transmit valuable indecipherable information to the US Allies. ![]() After he finishes boot camp, he and other Navajo recruits are taken to Camp Elliot in California where they learn that their role in the military will be that of code talkers. When he was a teenager in 1942, Ned joins the Marines and goes to boot camp. Ned excels in school and learns English, yet he and some other students secretly speak and retain their knowledge of the Navajo language. They are even given English names, hence his new name: Ned Begay. At school, the teachers essentially stripped American Indian children of their tribal ways and forced to abandon their language and culture in favor of adopting Anglo-American ways which included being punished for speaking in their native tongue. Ned’s story begins at six years old when he was taken to the Rehoboth Mission boarding school in New Mexico over 100 miles away from his home. Code Talker is based on true historical events and is narrated by the protagonist Ned Begay whose Navajo name is Kii Yázhi. Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two (2005), is a young adult historical fiction novel by Joseph Bruchac about the Northeastern Indigenous peoples of America. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |