Code Talker

After the food drive, Ned remains fascinated by Japan. He reads whatever he can find in the school library about Japan. Soon, however, Japan’s leaders turn to military solutions to their people’s problems. Building a massive army and navy, they invade and defeat the Chinese and many Pacific island nations. Something similar occurs in Germany, which soon allies with Japan. America begins to worry.

For most Navajos, the threat of war seems distant. However, in 1940, the Navajo Tribal Council passes a special resolution. Ned likes the resolution so much that he keeps a copy of it in his wallet, recopying it over the years as the paper grows worn and faded. On behalf of its 50,000 people, the Tribal Council acknowledges the mounting crisis and the fact that there is “no purer concentration of Americanism” than among the First Americans. The Council resolves that the Navajos are ready to defend the U.S. government and pledges its loyal support.

As it turns out, when an attack comes, nobody is prepared. That Sunday, December 7, 1941, Ned is sitting in the dormitory, still feeling ashamed about something that happened two days ago. Ned’s social studies teacher, Mr. Straight, overheard Ned greeting his friends in Navajo. For this one word, he puts Ned in front of the classroom with a dunce cap on his head. Ned feels sad and angry, doubting that bilagáanaas will ever respect him and fearing that his teachers are right—he’ll have to give up everything Navajo in order to be successful.

Just then, Tommy Nez runs in, shouting that the United States has been attacked. Everyone runs to the main school building, where Mr. Straight leads them to a radio. They listen to the details of Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor. No one knows what to think or say, but they sense that their world has changed.