The First Code Talkers: Native American Communicators in World War I

by William C. Meadows

Many Americans know something about the Navajo code talkers in World War II—but little else about the military service of Native Americans, who have served in our armed forces since the American Revolution, and still serve in larger numbers than any other ethnic group. But, as we learn in this splendid work of historical restitution, code talking originated in World War I among Native soldiers whose extraordinary service resulted, at long last, in U.S. citizenship for all Native Americans. The first full account of these forgotten soldiers in our nation’s military history, The First Code Talkers covers all known Native American code talkers of World War I—members of the Choctaw, Oklahoma Cherokee, Comanche, Osage, and Sioux nations, as well as the Eastern Band of Cherokee and Ho-Chunk, whose veterans have yet to receive congressional recognition. William C. Meadows, the foremost expert on the subject, describes how Native languages, which were essentially unknown outside tribal contexts and thus could be as effective as formal encrypted codes, came to be used for wartime communication. While more than thirty tribal groups were eventually involved in World Wars I and II, this volume focuses on Native Americans in the American Expeditionary Forces during the First World War. Drawing on nearly thirty years of research—in U.S. military and Native American archives, surviving accounts from code talkers and their commanding officers, family records, newspaper accounts, and fieldwork in descendant communities—the author explores the origins, use, and legacy of the code talkers. In the process, he highlights such noted decorated veterans as Otis Leader, Joseph Oklahombi, and Calvin Atchavit and scrutinizes numerous misconceptions and popular myths about code talking and the secrecy surrounding the practice. With appendixes that include a timeline of pertinent events, biographies of known code talkers, and related World War I data, this book is the first comprehensive work ever published on Native American code talkers in the Great War and their critical place in American military history.  

Genres: History, World War I

378 pages, Hardcover

Published January 7, 2021

About the author

Dr. Meadows holds a B.A. from Indiana University (1989) with a double major in anthropology and history, and M.A. (1991) and Ph.D. degrees in cultural anthropology from the University of Oklahoma. Dr. Meadows has performed fieldwork and published in the subfields of cultural anthropology, linguistic anthropology, and archaeology. He has performed cultural and linguistic fieldwork with the Kiowa, Comanche, Naishan Apache, Cheyenne, and Crow tribes, as well as in Japan, and has carried out archaeological fieldwork in the Midwestern United States.

Before joining Missouri State University, Dr. Meadows taught in the anthropology departments at Colorado State University (1995-1997) and Indiana State University (1998-2003).

Dr. Meadows research interests include: 1) past and present Native American cultures with emphasis on Plains and Southeastern cultures, code talkers, Native Americans in the military, contemporary Native American issues, and art; 2) Japan; 3) ethnography, ethnohistory, field research methods, language and culture, sodalities; and 4) midwestern archaeology, and chert studies. He teaches World Cultures (ANT 100), North American Indian Cultures (ANT 325), Peoples and Cultures of Japan (ANT 330), Plains Indians (ANT 330), North American Archaeology (ANT 360), North American Indians Today (ANT 425), and an ethnographic field school (ANT 490). He is currently finishing a book of Kiowa ethnogeography.

Dr. Meadows is the author of two books; Kiowa, Apache, and Comanche Military Societies (1999); and The Comanche Code Talkers of World War II (2002). He has also published articles in Plains Anthropologist, Great Plains Quarterly, and Ohio Archaeologist. Dr. Meadows testified before Congress regarding Native American Code Talkers in 2004 and spoke at the Library of Congress in 2005. He is a member of the Missouri State Native American Studies Committee, and the Central States and Missouri Archaeological Societies.

Reviews

[Lghamilton · Rating 3 out of 5]

The irony of the armed forces using a language that the government had tried to wipe out to defeat a foreign enemy. Twice. This is a very academic book. Summary: no good records exist as to whose idea it was at the end of the Great War to put Choctaw-speaking men on the communication lines, but the move quickly stymied the Boche, who were listening in. Another interesting fact: not all Native American enlistees were citizens of the United States at the time.

[Catherine Eng · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must-read for anyone interested in the subject of Native American code talkers. This carefully-researched book contains a treasure trove of information from military archives as well as interviews with descendants of the code talkers. The fact that the author was accepted into many communities and was able to gain rare insights with code talker families speaks volumes about his approach as an interviewer and a historian.

[Dave E · Rating 3 out of 5]

I cannot imagine there exists a more thorough book on the history of Native American code talkers in WWI. It is well researched and documented, so if you have a specific interest in these men, this is your go to source. However, this does not read so much like a history for general consumption, rather it resembles more an academic dissertation, so don't expect a page-turner.

[Sue Ricketts · Rating 1 out of 5]

Terrible book. Do not waste your time reading this one. Spoiler alert - the US only used Choctaw soldiers for the last 2 weeks of WWI. Most of the book was about battles, and how medals looked and, most important, how little information exists regarding these men and their help with sending orders that could not be “decoded” by the Germans. The author repeats the same stories multiple times to fill pages.