Tag Archives: Navajo Code Talker

Navajo Code Talkers leader defends Redskins name

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code-talkers-redskins(November 28, 2013)—A leader of the Navajo Code Talkers who appeared at a Washington Redskins home football game said Wednesday the team name is a symbol of loyalty and courage — not a slur as asserted by critics who want it changed.

Roy Hawthorne, 87, of Lupton, Ariz., was one of four Code Talkers honored for their service in World War II during the Monday night game against the San Francisco 49ers.

Hawthorne, vice president of the Navajo Code Talkers Association, said the group’s trip was paid for by the Redskins. The four men met briefly with team owner Dan Snyder but did not discuss the name, Hawthorne said. Still, he said he would endorse the name if asked, and the televised appearance in which three of the Indians wore Redskins jackets spoke for itself.

“We didn’t have that in mind but that is undoubtedly what we did do,” Hawthorne said when asked if he was intending to send a statement with the appearance. “My opinion is that’s a name that not only the team should keep, but that’s a name that’s American.”

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Read more at NFL.COM

First Native American Arizona Senator dies at age 102.

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Art_HubbardPHOENIX – Arthur Hubbard, Sr., American Navajo Code Talker and Arizona’s first Arizona State Senator, was laid to rest in Phoenix after a service at Pinnacle Presbyterian Church in Scottsdale at 102-years old.

Mr. Hubbard was born in January of 1912 in Topawa on the Tohono O’odham Indian Reservation, but was raised on the Navajo reservation with Christian, Navajo and O’odham traditions.

He joined the Marines and during World War II trained Navajo code talkers who were instrumental in success in the war in the Pacific. They used their native language to describe various Japanese military equipment and movements in their own native language which became the code the Japanese could not break.

Other Native American code talkers were deployed by the United States Army during World War II, including Cherokee, Choctaw, Lakota, Meskwaki, and Comanche soldiers. Soldiers of Basque ancestry were used for code talking by the U.S. Marines during World War II in areas where other Basque speakers were not expected to be operating.

FOX 10 News | myfoxphoenix.com

According to Indian Country, Navajo Nation President Ben Shelly said

“The Navajo Code Talkers are living treasures of the Navajo Nation. With the passing of Arthur Hubbard, Sr., we have lost a true American hero. The Nation offers our heartfelt condolences to the family during this time.”

In 1972 he became the first Native American Arizona Senator and served six terms.

The last original Navajo Code Talker awarded Audie Murphy award.

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Chester Nez, the last of the original 29 Marine Navajo Code Talkers was given the Audie Murphy award on November 9. The risk of torture and death for these warriors was an everyday reality.

The Native Americans used the Navajo language to transmit coded messages concerning Japanese military operations.

“I was very proud to say that the Japanese did everything in their power to break that code but they never did,” Nez said in an interview with Stars and Stripes the day before the award ceremony.

The service of these brave men saved the lives of many Marines.