Post by Okwes on Nov 27, 2006 11:23:53 GMT -5
Indian Code Talkers honored in exhibit
www.kctv5.com/Global/story.asp?S=5659509
<http://www.kctv5.com/Global/story.asp?S=5659509>
OKLAHOMA CITY -- During a time when American Indians were forbidden to
speak their languages, they were called on by the U.S. military to use
their native tongue to mislead the enemy. The story of these World
War I and World War II servicemen is told in the exhibit, "Hidden
Voices, Coded Words," which opens Friday at The Oklahoma History Center.
About 200 people attended a Thursday preview. These soldiers were
called code talkers because foreign enemies could not decode or decipher
what they were saying in their native languages. Tribes including the
Comanche, Choctaw, Navajo, Cheyenne, Cherokee, Osage, Lakota, Cree and
Sac and Fox all had code talkers in the military. Lloyd Van Codynah,
60, is the son of Comanche Code Talker Haddon Codynah. The elder
Codynah, who died in 1989, was one of 17 Comanche code talkers who
served during World War II. The Choctaw Nation had 18 code talkers.
Codynah said teachers at Indian boarding schools would wash students
mouths out with soap if they caught them speaking Comanche. Codynah's
father had just turned 18 when he found out he was going to Germany,
where he would end up serving three years. Codynah said that after
his father came home from war he'd sit around with some of his fellow
code talkers and they'd share tales from the war that included horror
stories of bloody bodies floating in the water. "They were all farm
boys ... they'd never seen anything like that," Codynah said. The
Comanche Code Talkers were able to fool enemies by speaking their Native
languages, but some of their words didn't have translations, like the
word 'tank.' Codynah said the Comanche soldiers called military tanks
"turtles" in Comanche because of their shape and because they moved so
slow. Some of the Comanche words that were commonly used in war
were: 'taawohonuu' for "our enemy," or Germans; 'tawo'i' for "gun," or
firearm; 'tuepuhtsatu' for "small explosion," or grenade; 'po'sa taiboo'
for "crazy white man," or Adolf Hitler; and 'puhihwi tekwapu' for "metal
talking," or telephone. Marian Kassanavoid, 81, the widow of Comanche
code talker Forrest Kassanavoid, said she was proud to be one of the
first people to view the $60 million exhibit. The exhibit will
complement the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of the American
Indian traveling exhibit "Native Words, Native Warriors." The
traveling exhibit will be on display until Jan. 15. Before the
preview Thursday, a ceremony was held featuring Comanche and Choctaw
color guards and a Comanche drum group. Kassanavoid said she was
touched by the ceremony and is proud of her husband's service. She also
said the honor is long overdue: "Finally... it makes me happy."
www.kctv5.com/Global/story.asp?S=5659509
<http://www.kctv5.com/Global/story.asp?S=5659509>
OKLAHOMA CITY -- During a time when American Indians were forbidden to
speak their languages, they were called on by the U.S. military to use
their native tongue to mislead the enemy. The story of these World
War I and World War II servicemen is told in the exhibit, "Hidden
Voices, Coded Words," which opens Friday at The Oklahoma History Center.
About 200 people attended a Thursday preview. These soldiers were
called code talkers because foreign enemies could not decode or decipher
what they were saying in their native languages. Tribes including the
Comanche, Choctaw, Navajo, Cheyenne, Cherokee, Osage, Lakota, Cree and
Sac and Fox all had code talkers in the military. Lloyd Van Codynah,
60, is the son of Comanche Code Talker Haddon Codynah. The elder
Codynah, who died in 1989, was one of 17 Comanche code talkers who
served during World War II. The Choctaw Nation had 18 code talkers.
Codynah said teachers at Indian boarding schools would wash students
mouths out with soap if they caught them speaking Comanche. Codynah's
father had just turned 18 when he found out he was going to Germany,
where he would end up serving three years. Codynah said that after
his father came home from war he'd sit around with some of his fellow
code talkers and they'd share tales from the war that included horror
stories of bloody bodies floating in the water. "They were all farm
boys ... they'd never seen anything like that," Codynah said. The
Comanche Code Talkers were able to fool enemies by speaking their Native
languages, but some of their words didn't have translations, like the
word 'tank.' Codynah said the Comanche soldiers called military tanks
"turtles" in Comanche because of their shape and because they moved so
slow. Some of the Comanche words that were commonly used in war
were: 'taawohonuu' for "our enemy," or Germans; 'tawo'i' for "gun," or
firearm; 'tuepuhtsatu' for "small explosion," or grenade; 'po'sa taiboo'
for "crazy white man," or Adolf Hitler; and 'puhihwi tekwapu' for "metal
talking," or telephone. Marian Kassanavoid, 81, the widow of Comanche
code talker Forrest Kassanavoid, said she was proud to be one of the
first people to view the $60 million exhibit. The exhibit will
complement the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of the American
Indian traveling exhibit "Native Words, Native Warriors." The
traveling exhibit will be on display until Jan. 15. Before the
preview Thursday, a ceremony was held featuring Comanche and Choctaw
color guards and a Comanche drum group. Kassanavoid said she was
touched by the ceremony and is proud of her husband's service. She also
said the honor is long overdue: "Finally... it makes me happy."