Teaching Resources for Native Words Native Warriors
The following titles will provide an overview of American Indian Code Talkers, Native participation in the U.S. military, and the life experienced by many Native soldiers in federally sponsored Indian boarding schools. This list also includes books on codes and ciphers. Many of these titles should be available at your local library.
Books Available at NSU John Vaughan Library
- NSU Bibliography
Books for Adults
American Indians in World War I
- Britten, Thomas A. | American Indians in World War I: At War and At Home | Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press, 1997
American Indians in World War II
- Bernstein, Alison R. | American Indians and World War II: Toward a New Era in Indian Affairs | Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1991
- Franco, Jere Bishop | Crossing the Pond: The Native American Effort in World War II | Denton, TX: University of North Texas Press, 1999
- Townsend, Kenneth William | World War II and the American Indian | Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press, 2000
American Indian Code Talkers
- Daily, Robert | The Code Talkers: American Indians in World War II | New York: Franklin Watts, 1995
Navajo Code Talkers
- Aaseng, Nathan | Navajo Code Talkers | New York: Walker & Company, 1992
- Bixler, Margaret T. | Winds of Freedom: The Story of the Navajo Code Talkers of World War II | Darien, CT: Two Bytes Pub. Co., 1992
- Durrett, Deanne | Unsung Heroes of World War II: The Story of the Navajo Code Talkers | New York: Facts on File, 1998
- Jones, Catherine | Navajo Code Talkers: Native American Heroes | Greensboro, NC: Tudor Publishers, 1997
- Kawano, Kenji | Warriors: Navajo Code Talkers | Flagstaff, AZ: Northland Pub. Co., 1990
- McClain, Sally | Navajo Weapon | Tucson, AZ: Rio Nuevo Publishers, 2002
- Paul, Doris Atkinson | The Navajo Code Talkers | Philadelphia, PA: Dorance, 1973
Comanche Code Talkers
- Meadows, William C. | The Comanche Code Talkers of World War II | Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 2002
Codes and Ciphers
- Singh, Simon | The Code Book: The Evolution of Secrecy from Mary, Queen of Scots to Quantum Cryptography | New York: Doubleday, 1999
- Smith, Laurence D. | Cryptography: The Science of Secret Writing | Dover, DE: Dover Publications, 1955
Indian Boarding Schools
- Adams, David Wallace | Education for Extinction: American Indians and the Boarding School Experience, 1875-1928 | Lawrence, KS: University of Kansas Press, 1997
- Archuleta, Margaret; Child, Brenda J.; Lomawaima, K. Tsianina, eds. | Away from Home: American Indian Boarding School Experiences | Phoenix, AZ: Heard Museum, 2000
Books for Young People
American Indian Code Talkers
- Hunter, Sara Hoagland | The Unbreakable Code | Flagstaff, AZ: Northland Publishing, 1996. | ages 4-8
- Bruchac, Joseph | Code Talker: A Novel about the Navajo Marines of World War II | New York: Dial Books, 2005 | ages 12 and up
Codes and Ciphers
- Adams, Simon | Codebreakers: Secret Worlds | New York: DK Publishing, Inc., 2002 | ages 9-12
- Huckle, Helen | The Secret Code Book | New York: Dial Books, 1995 | ages 9-12
- Janeczko, Paul | Top Secret: A Handbook of Codes, Ciphers and Secret Writing | Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press, 2004 | ages 9-12
- Price-Hossell, Karen | Ciphers and Codes | Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2003 | ages 4-8
- Singh, Simon | The Code Book: How to Make it, Break it, Hack it, Crack it | New York: Bantam Doubleday, 2002 | Young adult
Indian Boarding Schools
- Archuleta, Margaret L., Child, Brenda J., and Lomawaima, K. Tsianina, eds. | Away from Home: American Indian Boarding School Experiences, 1879-2000 | Phoenix, AZ: The Heard Museum.
- Littlefield, Holly | Children of the Indian Boarding Schools | Minneapolis, MN: Lerner Publishing Group, 2001
American Indian Code Talkers have been featured in a number of documentary film presentations. For more information on movies and to locate other resources in conjunction with this exhibit, visit the Smithsonian's website.
Websites
- American Indians in the United States Army
- Oklahoma Code Talkers
- Code Talkers Recognition Act of 2008
- Hopi Code Talkers
- Navajo Code: Powerful as Any Weapon in World War II
- Navajo Code Talkers
- Sioux Code Talkers
Search "Code Talkers" at the following websites:
For more information contact Susan Woitte.
Developed by the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian and the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service with generous support from Elizabeth Hunter Solomon, the Smithsonian Women's Committee, and the AMB Foundation.
