People of the Legends
Indigenous People of North America - Navajo
Code Talkers
People who are Code Talkers send messages using a code. Only people who know the code can understand what has been said. (A code is something that stands for letters, numbers or words).
Navajo Marines in World War II
During World War II many Navajo were in the US armed forces (army, navy, airforce).
Some were Marines and from 1942 to 1945, about 400 of these worked as Code Talkers.
Morse Code
At that time military people used Morse Code to send messages to their allies (other people on their side).
Morse Code was invented in the 1800s and uses dots and dashes for the letters of the alphabet. 
The dots and dashes can be sent in several ways including:
- For long distances - as short and long signals along telegraph wires, using a telegraph machine
- For short distances at night – using a blinking light.
Morse Code is still used today in radio communication.
The problem with using Morse Code in World War II was that many people around the world knew how to read it, including enemy soldiers. And it took a long time to send a message because each letter of each word had to be spelled out in dots and dashes.
A faster and more secure way to send messages was needed, and the Navajo Marines found the answer using their own Navajo language.
The Navajo language
The Navajo have always been proud of their language and taught their children to speak it as a way of keeping Navajo culture alive.
Navajo is a complex language, with a lot of words to learn.
It is a spoken language only. It has no alphabet or symbols, so words and sentences cannot be written down.
At the time of World War II, only about 30 non-Navajo people spoke it and they probably worked or lived on the Navajo Nation with the Navajo people.
No-one from any enemy country could speak it.
