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By: Nick Georgelas

Navajo Code Talker Notes. about. Ned Begay. HERO. By: Nick Georgelas. Hero- define personality traits. Good student (Bruchac Code 29) determination..

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By: Nick Georgelas

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  1. Navajo Code Talker Notes about Ned Begay HERO By: Nick Georgelas

  2. Hero- define personality traits • Good student (Bruchac Code 29) • determination.. • Wanted to be teacher – show respect for all Indian students and not just whites kids like his teachers did. Would expect the best out of everyone (Bruchac Code 29) • Finds out Navajos are wanted when war starts (Bruchac Code 40) • Sympathetic.. • When he was a school boy, participated in food drives for Japanese (before war) from the earthquakes (Bruchac Code 31) • Intelligence.. • Code talkers had to memorize 211 terms before going into war then expanded over 411 terms by the end of the war (“Navajo Unbreakable”)

  3. Personality traits cont’d • During battle of Iwo Jima, during first 48hrs, coded over 800 transmissions w/ perfect accuracy (“Official” story) • Need for a language that qualified as extreme complexity was found and these Navajos had the knowledge (“Navajo” Senator) • Military terms with no Navajo words- spelled out with many different words with the same letter ex: letter “A” can be said as WOL-LA-CHEE (ANT), BE-LA-SANA(APPLE), or TSE-NILL(AXE) (Navajo Dictionary) • Must be able to speak fluently and fully understand both English and Navajo (Memorandum) • Only other Navajos were able to understand the language over the radio (Bruchac “Teaching”) • Must be brave and courageous…. • Ned was sent away from home to go to school at age 6 (Bruchac Code 6)

  4. Cont’d • Ned taught his friend (Georgia Boy) how to read (Bruchac Code 66) • The Navajo code talkers took an oath to protect the code with their lives. They wouldn’t tell even if they were tortured (Bruchac Code 77)

  5. Setting influence development of literacy heroes • Just being in the state of war (WWII), can affect the development of literacy heroes • When Ned finds out the marines are looking for Navajos, he is determined to be one of the proud and the few (Bruchac Code 43) • If WWII did not occur, a literary hero like Ned may not have chosen his path in life, that led him to become a hero • The first 29 code talkers who became heroes, may not have become heroes if Navajo men were not needed in service (“Navajo Unbreakable”) • Since less than 30 fluent speakers of the language that were not Navajo and no established alphabet, almost impossible to decipher (“Official” story)

  6. Cont’d • In a demonstration, marine staff officers came up with messages that would be used in combat, the messages were coded, sent and translated back in perfect English form in less than 2 minutes (“Peoples”)

  7. How does this hero reflect his culture/society • Every morning, Ned used corn pollen ritual to protect him during battle or training (Bruchac Code 82) • The Navajo’s would teach other marines in their camp about their culture (Bruchac Code 83) • When most of the Navajo marines returned, ceremonies were performed to help bring the hero back to a state of “Hozho” or balance of peace (Meadows) • When Ned was in service he sent clothes stained with mud, blood and sweat back home for a protection ceremony (Bruchac Code 134)

  8. Hero representing his time period and geographical area • Many of the tasks needed to be done in training camp in marines, were easy for Navajos because it is what they did in everyday life (Bruchac Code 99) • Being from a desert region, 2 mile long hikes in the desert done in training were like hiking miles on the reservation to get water. Also they knew about using the water inside the prickly pear cactus to stay hydrated, while other marines were collapsing from dehydration because they did not know about the prickly pear cactus (Bruchac Code 99) • Geography also separated Indian tribes so each language was significantly different- other Indians could not figure out the Navajo code (Memorandum)

  9. How cultures recognize or reward heroes • Even though it took a while to declassify what code talkers did, Navajo were not forgotten • Congressional Gold Medal in 2000 and in 2001 (Navajo Unbreakable) • Many acknowledged them as an instrumental key to success of every major victory in the Pacific (“Official” code) • Occupants of the islands that battles were on were great-full for the marines. • Man gives bunch of bananas for thanks to Ned (Bruchac Code 119)

  10. How childhood affected decisions about future • Since Ned was treated so bad in school because he was a Navajo, he wanted to become a great teacher and expect the best out of everyone (Bruchac Code 29) • After Ned heard Johnny Manuelito talk about the Navajos joining the marines, he knew in his heart he was going to be a warrior (Bruchac Code 49) • Most Navajos were discriminated against, they never over reacted when such things were said to them (Bruchac Code 61)

  11. Obstacles Overcome • Left for school at the age of 6 with no family with him, told to forget his language and it was bad (Bruchac Code 22) • Not allowed to communicate w/ any one back home (Bruchac Code 46) • Ned almost drowned in training learning how to swim (Bruchac Code 64) • Must keep quiet about code until declassified in 1969 (Bruchac “Teaching”) • Oath to die before telling of the code if captured, “sworn to secrecy”, nothing about the code left the code training classroom (Bruchac Code 76) • Conditions were wet, hot, and they run the risk of getting malaria (Bruchac Code 101) • Carry 80lb TBX radio in the heat of battle (Bruchac Code 104) • Everything was booby trapped by the Japanese like dead bodies (Bruchac Code 129)

  12. How the Navajo marines showed appreciation for the people they fought for • On Guam, Ned helped carry the belongings of the native Chamorros, after they fled the Japs also the navajos brought the Chamorros into their food line (Bruchac Code 154-155) • Ned learned more about navajo history and language to help future generations learn (Bruchac Code 211) • Some marines re-enlisted (Bruchac Code 208)

  13. Reasons Ned and other Navajos joined the Marines • Wanted to see the world, wear beautiful uniform, inspired by Johnny Manuelito (Bruchac Code 49) • Navajos held the key language to success in communication (Memorandum) • Wanted to have the warrior spirit like ancestors(Bruchac Code 49) • Learn ways of the whites to help the Navajo when it came to things like interpreting laws (Bruchac Code 8)

  14. How Navajo were changed when they came back • Could not get the war out of their head (Bruchac Code 195) • Many suffer from PTSD, Ned suffered until his friend, Hosteen Mitchell did ritual, even though marines in Navajo culture were axpected to fit back into society (Bruchac Code 211) • Ceremonies – helped to restore the peace and relieve PTSD (Meadows)

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