The Power of Words: Native Languages as Weapons of War

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The Power of Words: Native Languages as Weapons of War

The Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian, with the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, launched the traveling exhibition "Native Words, Native Warriors" in the fall of 2008 coinciding with the November celebrations ofo American Indian Heritage Month and Veterans Day. The exhibition tells the remarkable story of soldiers from more than a dozen tribes who used their Native languages in service to the US. military in WWI and WWII. This top-secret program as an instrumental part of the allies' success: while it to a machine up to four hours to transmit and decode a message, the code talkers to do it in less than three minutes. The codes were never broken. "Native Words," incorporates interviews with the soldiers on 15 large scale banners, a 50-minute VHS tape and this 10 minute video, to record this little-known part of history. This inspiring exhibition is made possible thanks to the generous supper of donor Elizabeth Hunter Solomon. Additional support has been provide by the Smithsonian Women's Committee and the AMB foundation.

11 min 47 sec

Native American Indian Museum Smithsonian "Indigenous Peoples" "Smithsonian Institution" "Smithsonian NMAI" "National Museum of the American Indian"