Arizona Humanities Presents: Talking Code with a Secret Weapon: Navajo Code Talkers Speak

During WWII a group of young Navajo men enlisted in the Marines unaware that they would develop a secret code against the Japanese military. This select group of Code Talkers devised a Navajo language code that was accurate, quick, never broken, and saved many American lives. Excerpts from live interviews with the Code Talkers tell their stories before, during, and after the war that reflect their resiliency and their service to the U.S., a country that once tried to erase Navajo identity and language in the schools. Without fanfare the Code Talkers returned home to continued poverty and lack of opportunity and yet persevered. They overcame obstacles that helped change the Navajo Nation and their communities. Over twenty years passed after their discharge before Code Talkers were honored for their service by U.S. Presidents and the Navajo Nation.

Laura Tohe is Diné  and Laguna and is the current Navajo Nation Poet Laureate.  She is Sleepy Rock People clan and born for the Bitter Water People clan and the daughter of a Navajo Code Talker.  She is a poet, writer, and a librettist.  Her works include three books of poetry, an anthology of Native women’s writing, and an oral history on the Navajo Code Talkers. Her librettos, Enemy Slayer, A Navajo Oratorio and Nahasdzáán in the Glittering World performed in Arizona, Colorado, Utah, and France.  Among her awards are the 2024 Guest Editor for the Academy of American Poetry Poem a Day program, 2020 Academy of American Poetry Fellowship, the 2019 American Indian Festival of Writers Award, and twice nominated for a Pushcart Prize.  She is Professor Emerita with Distinction from Arizona State University. 

This program is made possible by Arizona Humanities.