Code talkers.

Sun Jun 8 19:39:35 UTC 2008

To whom - It is my sad job to inform you that Carolyn passed away this last
Wednesday.  Her memorial service will be in Hominy, OK, on June 14 at 11am.
Gordon

Carolyn Quintero, PhD

Inter Lingua, Inc.

1711 East 15th St.

Tulsa OK 74104

2105 East Ocean Blvd #2

Long Beach CA 90803

tel 918 852 9860

cquintero at interlinguainc.com

   _____  

From: owner-siouan at lists.colorado.edu
[mailto:owner-siouan at lists.colorado.edu] On Behalf Of Rankin, Robert L
Sent: Monday, May 26, 2008 11:22 AM
To: siouan at lists.colorado.edu
Subject: RE: Code talkers.

Dear Mrs. Stabler,

I haven't forgotten you.  I keep finding things in the texts that need to be
"fixed".  I've done about the correcting that I'm ambitious enough to do, so
I'll try to get you a CD of the texts out in the next few days.

Best wishes,

Bob Rankin

   _____  

From: owner-siouan at lists.colorado.edu on behalf of Vida Stabler
Sent: Mon 5/5/2008 10:48 AM
To: siouan at lists.colorado.edu
Subject: Re: Code talkers.

You are kind.  My address is Vida Stabler, Umo^n ho^n Nation Public
Schoool, Umo^n ho^n Language & Cultural Center, Box
280, Macy, Nebraska 68039
Wibthaho^n , VSS
Rankin, Robert L wrote:
> Dear Mrs. Stabler,
> 
> If you don't have access to an email address that readily accepts
attachments, why don't you send me your postal address and I'll just fire
off a copy of the Dorsey texts to you on a disk.
> 
> Best,
> 
> Bob R.
>
> ________________________________
>
> From: owner-siouan at lists.colorado.edu on behalf of Vida Stabler
> Sent: Thu 5/1/2008 2:58 PM
> To: siouan at lists.colorado.edu
> Subject: Re: Code talkers.
>
>
>
> Mr. Tom Leonard, sounds like you were really blessed to know these men.
> Vida
>
> Tom Leonard wrote:
>  
>> FYI -
>>
>> Charles Chibitty, the last survivor of 20 Comanche code talkers who
>> used their native language to transmit messages for the Allies in
>> Europe during World War II died in July 2005. He was 83.
>>
>> "/It's strange, but growing up as a child I was forbidden to speak my
>> native language at school," Chibitty said in 2002. "Later my country
>> asked me to. My language helped win the war and that makes me very
>> proud. Very proud./"
>>
>> I knew Charlie (he lived nearby, here in Tulsa) Forrest Kassanavoid,
>> and a few of the others. They were ALL great guys...real gentlemen. It
>> was a honor to know them and to have the opportunity to visit with them.
>>
>> Some further info here:
>> HYPERLINK
"http://www.comanchelanguage.org/Comanche%20Code%20Talkers.htm"http://www.co
manchelanguage.org/Comanche%20Code%20Talkers.htm
>>
>> HYPERLINK
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_talker"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_
talker
>>
>>
>>
>> Rankin, Robert L wrote:
>>    
>>> Interesting.  All this stuff should be collected and the principals
interviewed to the extent that it's still possible.  The participants didn't
want to talk about it for a long time because it was "classified", but that
is no longer the case (although I suppose interviewers should get a letter
from the Pentagon saying so).
>>>
>>> Bob
>>>
>>> ________________________________
>>>
>>> From: owner-siouan at lists.colorado.edu on behalf of Justin McBride
>>> Sent: Wed 4/30/2008 11:39 AM
>>> To: siouan at lists.colorado.edu
>>> Subject: Re: Code talkers.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> I went to a code talker reception in Oklahoma City a year or two ago. I
>>> heard something I'd never considered before. There have been several
>>> instances in wars past in which two or more fluent tribal language
speakers
>>> from the same community happened to be in the same batch of soldiers
(unit,
>>> platoon, or whatever). In those cases, speakers were not infrequently
called
>>> upon to communicate by way of their shared language, especially in
>>> close-fighting situations where the shouting of tactical orders may have
>>> been overheard by enemy troops that may have knowledge of English.
Soldiers
>>> who did this sort of thing weren't code talkers per se, and have never
been
>>> recognized for their contributions to the war effort.
>>>
>>> I recently heard that there were a few Kaw "code talkers," and ever
since
>>> that reception I've wondered if the designation may have actually
referred
>>> to this phenomenon of impromptu tribal language use in combat settings.
I
>>> wanted to ask one of those guys who was supposedly such a talker,
Houston
>>> Taylor, but he recently passed away. I guess these guys, however heroic,
>>> aren't getting any younger.
>>>
>>> -Justin
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> From: "Rankin, Robert L" <rankin at ku.edu>
>>> To: <siouan at lists.colorado.edu>
>>> Sent: Wednesday, April 30, 2008 9:54 AM
>>> Subject: RE: Code talkers.
>>>
>>>
>>> I'd guess that, over time, the "code(s)" could have been broken.  As
several
>>> have said, any language can be reduced to its grammar.  In the case of
the
>>> American Indian languages, they were used as tactical codes, not
strategic
>>> codes, as far as I know.  The latter are used for diplomatic and general
>>> staff, etc. communications, and it was those that our cryptanalysts had
the
>>> best luck with against the Japanese and Germans.  Even if the Japanese
had
>>> painfully learned Navajo (or Seminole, Choctaw, Omaha, Comanche, etc.),
they
>>> would have had to be able to understand the language spoken rapidly by
>>> native speakers under battlefield conditions.  How many of us could do
that
>>> with the Siouan languages we've studied for so many years!?  As an
aside, I
>>> don't think the alleged "difficulties" of the Navajo language had much
of
>>> anything to do with its success as a code.
>>>
>>> On top of the language there was a fairly simple substitution code with
>>> different words for various military terms, and they would have had to
be
>>> decrypted too.  All in all, it was a terrifically efficient system, and
the
>>> participants deserve all of the credit that has been bestowed on them,
>>> however belatedly.
>>>
>>> The contribution of the Navajos has become pretty well known, but I
think
>>> someone should try to interview any left who were from other tribes --
in
>>> any war.  And, if not them, then their living relatives.  There's
definitely
>>> a book to be written there, and who better to write it than someone with
>>> roots in the Native American community or a linguist?
>>>
>>> Bob
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> 
>>>      
>
>
>
>  

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