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US/VA WWII PBL: Native Americans

Carmen Conteras Bozak

Native American experience as a result of World War II

Native American soldiers during World War II

Navajo Code Talker Samuel T. Holiday

Navajo Code Talker Samuel T. Holiday, a native of Kayenta, Ariz., addresses the audience during a commemoration ceremony for the Navajo Code Talkers at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif., Sept. 28, 2015. The Navajo code talkers took part in every assault the U.S. Marines conducted in the Pacific from 1942 to 1945. They served in all six Marine divisions, Marine Raider Battalions and Marine parachute units, transmitting messages by telephone and radio in their native language that enemy forces were never able to break. 

Photo Attribution: United States Marines photo by Lance Cpl. Adrianna Lincoln [Public domain]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ed/Navajo_Nation_Camp_Pendleton_Tour_150928-M-HY842-068.jpg

Overview article

Native Americans in the Military

Source citation: 

"Native Americans in the Military." Gale U.S. History in Context, Gale, 2018. U.S. History in Context, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/GQYDBR435860280/UHIC?u=spri48590_e&sid=UHIC&xid=c2186007. Accessed 8 Apr. 2019.

Native American veterans will be honored with memorial on National Mall (Newsela article)

Source citation:

Bahrampour, Tara. "Native American Veterans Will Be Honored with Memorial on National Mall." Newsela, edited by The Washington Post, 23 Jan. 2018, newsela.com/read/native-veterans-memorial?utm_source=email&utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=web. Accessed 22 Apr. 2019.
Videos

Navajo Code Talkers

** Pay attention to the segments on the right hand side of the screen.  Be sure to watch Segments 9 & 10.

Source citation: 

“Navajo Code Talkers.” Films Media Group, 1998, learn360.infobase.com/PortalPlaylists.aspx?wID=102783&xtid=67278. Accessed 17 Apr. 2019.
Primary Source

Resolution CJ-1-42 A

 

Resolution CJ-1-42

Resolution CJ-1-42

This resolution was approved by a vote of the Navajo Tribal Council in the days following the United States' entry into World War II. It declared the Navajo Nation's loyalty to the American government and their willingness to support the war effort.

Signed by the chairman and vice-chairman on January 12, 1942, the Navajo Tribal Council passed this resolution supporting the war effort and pledging their loyalty to the United States. During World War II, more than 500 Navajos served in the U.S. Marines, most of them as code talkers. The code talkers transmitted messages—not one was ever decoded by the Japanese—in their extremely complex native language.

Source citation: 

Resolution CJ-1-42; 1/12/1942; Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Record Group 75. https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/resolution-cj142, Accessed April 17, 2019

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