John Kinsel Sr., one of the last remaining Navajo Code Talkers who transmitted messages during World War II based on the tribe’s native language, has died. He was 107. Navajo Nation officials in Window Rock announced Kinsel’s death on Saturday. “Mr. Kinsel was a Marine who bravely and selflessly fought for all of us in the most terrifying circumstances with the greatest responsibility as a Navajo Code Talker,” Nygren said in a statement Sunday. With Kinsel’s death, only two Navajo Code Talkers are still alive: Former Navajo Chairman Peter MacDonald and Thomas H. Begay. Related article Who were the Navajo code talkers? Hundreds of Navajos were recruited by the Marines to serve as Code Talkers during the war, transmitting messages based on their then-unwritten native language. They confounded Japanese military cryptologists during World War II and participated in all assaults the Marines led in the Pacific from 1942 to 1945, including at Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Peleliu and Iwo Jima. The Code Talkers sent thousands of messages without error on Japanese troop movements, battlefield tactics and other communications crucial to the war’s ultimate outcome. Kinsel was born in Cove, Arizona, and lived in the Navajo community of Lukachukai. He enlisted in the Marines in 1942 and became an elite Code Talker, serving with the 9th Marine Regiment and the 3rd Marine Division during the Battle of Iwo Jima. President Ronald Reagan established Navajo Code Talkers Day in 1982 and the August 14 holiday honors all the tribes associated with the war effort. The day is an Arizona state holiday and Navajo Nation holiday on the vast reservation that occupies portions of northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico and southeastern Utah. National Veterans Memorial and Museum
It is much more than a day on the calendar. History should be taught so that we remember why we have those days. Here is a declassified document of a breakdown of the Navajo code dictionary of some of the native words and the agreed upon translation. Thus a platoon forward began with , ant, apple, axe,one of these for A, then mud for platoon, and let's go for forward. In the same way a grid call for an artillery strike at A-5), D-8would be any of the following, for the a, ant, apple ,axe then the number in Navajo, d could be deer, devil or dog and the number in Navajo. Since they were all in the Marine's and a small group, they had the ability at will to change it. If they wished they could change door in Navajo for dog or add it for a d. The Japanese captured a Navajo and tried to get him to help break it. He both resisted and was unable to give them the information. They had a recording and it said something like red earth deer and so on. No verbs, words that made no sense if you didn't know the code. https://www.history.navy.mil/resear...etically/n/navajo-code-talker-dictionary.html Here is the introduction to a study of the code talkers. Research Guides: Navajo Code Talkers: A Guide to First-Person Narratives in the Veterans History Project: Introduction And here is the first of 20 some first person interviews by the project. I can't guess what it would be like to not only have the Japanese out after you, but the Marines ordered to kill you if they thought you were about to be captured.There are videos of the interviews of the old men talking of their youth that makes it worth while. A very deep rabbit hole for me. I had to look at the next one. Research Guides: Navajo Code Talkers: A Guide to First-Person Narratives in the Veterans History Project: Dan Akee
I met some of them in the early 90's when i was staying on the rez and doing knife making demos for some of the boys. It was an honor for me.
107 yrs old ,,, unbelievable,, a National treasure for sure . ,,and 2 more are still alive ,,, these men should be honored every freekin' day they wake up ,,, I wonder what they actually think about our country these days ,,, my time of service was 40+ yrs after theirs ,,, and I'm disgusted with these people of today ,,,
While I honor and respect the Navajo who served nonetheless it is always irritating to me personally when I see them propped up as "THE" code talkers. It was the Choctaw who were first used as code talkers in WWI. It was they (my ancestors) who pioneered the practice and were responsible for its success and use in future conflicts. But they are largely ignored. I feel the same when I see things about "the trail of tears" . It's always about the Cherokee. When in fact the Cherokee were the last of the 5 civilised tribes to be forcibly removed from thier homeland. The Choctaws were the first, preceding the Cherokee by 8 years. It's a bone of contention for me that my ancestors so frequently are overlooked or completely ignored. Military historians agree, but seldom mention, that Andrew Jackson would have certainly been defeated at the Battle of New Orleans if not for the Choctaw Nation that refused to guide the British through the swamps and forrests of Georgia and Mississippi and instead sent warriors to harass and snipe them day and night on their slog through the swamps for days so that they were thoroughly exhausted by the time they arrived. Choctaw runners had been sent ahead to warn Jackson of the approaching British from overland. He had his defenses arranged to repel a sea attack. Historians also surmise that if they had not of sided with the colonials in the revelutionary war, denying the British local guides, scouts and support, that there is a high probablility that the colonials may have been defeated. A Choctaw chief, Pushmataha was the first native American to be given a commission in the colonial Army. With the rank of Brigadier General he led his native forces on many successful attacks and raids against British forces. He was the first Native to be honored with a full military funeral procession down Pennsylvania Ave and buried at the Congessional Cemetary. So while I honor other natives, especially those that serve, and I enjoy history, I just find it disheartening that much of true history, especially where natives are concerned, is often overlooked or distorted.
The choctaw trail came through my area. Its interesting to me. The "official" trail and record says it came through Washington Arkansas then turned at the town and continued on slightly northwest. I own the orginisl property of James Black 4 miles out of Washington., that is where he forged a bowie knife for Jim Bowie and others. While metal detecting to research the property we found a US infantry buttong that was on issue uniforms starting the year before the trail came through. It is in my opinion that the actual trail was 4 miles off. There would have been no other reason for infantry to be on that property. "Mexico" was only 11 miles from the property.
Another thing always mentioned in the trail of tears is the over 4000 deaths. But it usually fails to mention that the majority of those were among the Choctaw and Chickasaw who were the first tribes to be relocated. The time of year, the trail chosen etc led to many mistakes that cost thousands of lives. By the time they forced the Cherokee to go they had learned many lessons and they didn't suffer the death rate of the preceding tribes. My 6th ggrandfather , several of his children and grandchildren were forced to walk to Okla in 1832. Him and most of his children and several grandchildren died on the trail. One story told was of one of his granchildren about 4 or 5 years old had dysentary, which was rampant among the people, and he had to stop so often that he was holding up the line. Two soldiers grabbed him by the ankles and swung his head into a tree killing him. Him along with many of my family are buried in unmarked graves along the trail.
Thank you both for that bit of history updates. I've always respected the Indian tribes ,, I know a few were reported as savages ,, and some may have been,, but I respected their way of life . They may have been our country's original preppers .
The Dakota war of 1862 lead by little Crow in response the time honored tradition of Indian agents ripping off the tribes. The largest mass executioner in US history 38 of the original 303 sentenced to death were hung in Mankato. The families were kept in Fort Snelling and other camps with scores dying in poor conditions. Dakota War of 1862 The Trials & Hanging | The U.S.-Dakota War of 1862 Dakota War of 1862 - Wikipedia The Trials & Hanging The trials of the Dakota were conducted unfairly in a variety of ways. The evidence was sparse, the tribunal was biased, the defendants were unrepresented in unfamiliar proceedings conducted in a foreign language, and authority for convening the tribunal was lacking. More fundamentally, neither the Military Commission nor the reviewing authorities recognized that they were dealing with the aftermath of a war fought with a sovereign nation and that the men who surrendered were entitled to treatment in accordance with that status." Carol Chomsky, Associate Professor, University of Minnesota Law School On September 28, 1862, two days after the surrender at Camp Release, a commission of military officers established by Henry Sibley began trying Dakota men accused of participating in the war. Several weeks later the trials were moved to the Lower Agency, where they were held in one of the only buildings left standing, trader François LaBathe’s summer kitchen. As weeks passed, cases were handled with increasing speed. On November 5, the commission completed its work. 392 prisoners were tried, 303 were sentenced to death, and 16 were given prison terms. President Lincoln and government lawyers then reviewed the trial transcripts of all 303 men. As Lincoln would later explain to the U.S. Senate: "Anxious to not act with so much clemency as to encourage another outbreak on one hand, nor with so much severity as to be real cruelty on the other, I ordered a careful examination of the records of the trials to be made, in view of first ordering the execution of such as had been proved guilty of violating females." When only two men were found guilty of rape, Lincoln expanded the criteria to include those who had participated in “massacres” of civilians rather than just “battles.” He then made his final decision, and forwarded a list of 39 names to Sibley. On December 26, 1862, 38 Dakota men were hanged at Mankato. At 10:00 am on December 26, 38 Dakota prisoners were led to a scaffold specially constructed for their execution. One had been given a reprieve at the last minute. An estimated 4,000 spectators crammed the streets of Mankato and surrounding land. Col. Stephen Miller, charged with keeping the peace in the days leading up to the hangings, had declared martial law and had banned the sale and consumption of alcohol within a ten-mile radius of the town. As the men took their assigned places on the scaffold, they sang a Dakota song as white muslin coverings were pulled over their faces. Drumbeats signalled the start of the execution. The men grasped each others’ hands. With a single blow from an ax, the rope that held the platform was cut. Capt. William Duley, who had lost several members of his family in the attack on the Lake Shetek settlement, cut the rope. After dangling from the scaffold for a half hour, the men’s bodies were cut down and hauled to a shallow mass grave on a sandbar between Mankato’s main street and the Minnesota River. Before morning, most of the bodies had been dug up and taken by physicians for use as medical cadavers. Following the mass execution on December 26, it was discovered that two men had been mistakenly hanged. Wicaƞḣpi Wastedaƞpi (We-chank-wash-ta-don-pee), who went by the common name of Caske (meaning first-born son), reportedly stepped forward when the name “Caske” was called, and was then separated for execution from the other prisoners. The other, Wasicuƞ, was a young white man who had been adopted by the Dakota at an early age. Wasicuƞ had been acquitted. ;
