Code Talker

Chapters 1-4

Reading Check

1. It is a way to protect family and the Navajo people. (Chapter 1)

2. Speaking Navajo, or any language that is not English (Chapter 2)

3. Naked and ashamed (Chapter 3)

4. Tradition (Chapter 4)

Short Answer

1. Children are dressed in their finest to show the teachers how much their families care for them. (Chapter 2)

2. In the past, Mexican enslavers who could speak English told the United States the Navajo were raiders, leading to the Long Walk. Because the laws of the country were written in English, learning English is also important for Navajo survival and sovereignty. (Chapter 1)

3. Ned is a model student because he is polite, studious, and says what teachers want to hear. In private, however, he is rebellious; he only speaks Navajo and keeps the Navajo Way in his heart. (Chapter 4)

Chapters 5-8

Reading Check

1. A teacher (Chapter 5)

2. It is closer to home and has better instruction. (Chapter 5)

3. Japan (Chapter 5)

4. The Marines (Chapter 6)

Short Answer

1. The Tribal Council’s resolution offers support; it also pledges allyship with and promises never to aid enemies of the United States. (Chapter 6)

2. In addition to the special resolution, Navajo warriors show patriotism and allyship with the United States by trying to enlist and help fight the war. This might be considered ironic because allying with the United States means allying with the same government that forced them on the Long Walk, and that is still colonizing and attempting to erase the Navajo Way by killing language and culture in boarding schools. (Chapter 7)

3. Because the code-talker mission is secret and urgent, the recruits cannot tell their families their whereabouts. The United States government also has a long history of lying, kidnapping, and forced relocation, which makes the Navajo families’ worries justified. (Chapter 8)

Chapters 9-12

Reading Check

1. A Blessingway Ceremony (Chapter 9)

2. Wóláchíí (Ant) (Chapter 9)

3. Their Sacred Homeland (Chapter 11)

4. In memory (Chapter 12)

Short Answer

1. The bad food, uncomfortable quarters, constant abuse, and programming designed to break the individual in the boarding school is like bootcamp, so Navajo recruits have already developed mental and physical resilience against that kind of treatment. (Chapter 10)

2. Ned and the others are proud, not prideful, to be using the beautiful and sacred language that they were told was worthless to save lives and protect their homeland. (Chapter 12)

3. In some ways, the armed forces are more open-minded and accepting once people prove their worth; they allow recruits to integrate, speak Navajo openly, and even share their ceremonies, but in terms of promotions, pay, and acknowledgement, they are prejudiced against Navajo recruits. (Chapter 12)

Chapters 13-16

Reading Check

1. Six months (Chapter 13)

2. Corporal (Chapter 13)

3. Bushido (Chapter 14)

4. They obtain water/juice from prickly pear cactuses. (Chapter 15)

Short Answer

1. In Navajo culture, monsters of legend live in the water, and as a land-locked, high desert people, the vast water of the ocean is terrifying. When Ned remembers that Father Sky is above him wherever he might go, he is able to overcome his fear. (Chapter 13)

2. He recognizes the impacts of colonization, enslavement, and exploitation; he also understands their love of a sacred homeland and the deep resilience they draw from their culture and land. (Chapter 15)

3. Nicknames are a coping mechanism for overcoming the stress and fear of war because they make dangers more familiar and even comical. (Chapter 16)

Chapters 17-20

Reading Check

1. Waiting and not knowing (Chapter 17)

2. Because, like a mouse, they are stealthy and quiet. (Chapter 18)

3. Send, receive, roger, move (Chapter 18)

4. A sickness (Chapter 19)

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Radio transmissions can be traced, so code talkers face more accurate shelling than the general population, and being nonwhite, they are sometimes mistaken for Japanese soldiers by their own troops. (Chapter 19)

2. New equipment, technology, and location names need coding as the war continues. (Chapter 19)

3. Saipan is occupied with civilians who often kill themselves rather than surrender, it is far better defended than previous islands, and the cost of capture is high, with 3,000 marines and 20,000 Japanese soldiers and civilians in casualties. (Chapter 20)

Chapters 21-24

Reading Check

1. They are patched up. (Chapter 22)

2. Mental and physical wounds, battle fatigue (Chapter 22)

3. The atomic bomb (Chapter 23)

Short Answer

1. Besides the secret code, Ned and the armed forces keep information about military weapons like the atomic bomb and the locations of troops and bases to themselves for security reasons. Anything deemed bad for morale is kept from the public, including pictures of dead soldiers and Japanese tactics like the kamikaze fighters. (Chapter 23)

2. The term means “holy wind.” It refers to a story in which the Mongols tried to invade Japan, but their fleets were pushed back twice by winds, so Japan was saved. The ingrained cultural mindset is that the holy wind will always protect Japan, and that Japan will always be victorious against invaders. (Chapter 23)

3. The senninbari are cloths woven by family members containing all the hopes and blessings of the makers. They are said to protect wearers from harm, which reminds the Lakota soldier, Sam Little Fingernail, of the ghost shirts his ancestors wore to deflect bullets fired by the United States Cavalry. He recalls the images of the interwoven prayers of his family and the friends of Ned’s Blessingway. (Chapter 24)

Chapters 25-29

Reading Check

1. The Navajo language (Chapter 26)

2. 83 days (Chapter 27)

3. The Korean and Vietnam Wars (Chapter 29)

4. 1969 (Chapter 29)

Short Answer

1. The famous image that became a memorial statue in Washington, DC, was taken of soldiers replacing a flag, not raising it in battle. Though the soldiers in the image played a real part in taking the island, those like Ira Long were embarrassed and felt they did not deserve the recognition because they did not place the original flag. Also, the original flag was symbolic, not an actual victory marker, as days of fighting continued even after soldiers raised it from the top of Mt. Suribachi. (Chapter 26)

2. They have no specializations listed on their discharge papers that could get them better jobs, they cannot speak of the vital role they played, and they are not allowed to use the GI Bill to build homes on reservation lands. (Chapter 29)

3. Though integrated in the military, veterans returned to segregated hometowns and faced overtly racist discrimination despite their service.

4. For Ned, being able to tell his grandchildren and other young Navajo children about the worth of their language, and the vital role speaking their language played in the war, is more important and long lasting than praise and recognition, because it encourages positive self-identity in a world where Indigenous cultures are not valued and inspires people to preserve the language for the future. (Chapter 29)