The Code Talkers
- Catriona M.
- Nov 11, 2025
- 5 min read
Throughout the US and Canada, Native Americans and Indigenous peoples helped contribute to the war effort of WWI on both the combat and home front despite the discrimination and restrictions that they faced.
One third of Indigenous men from ages 18 to 45 (more than 4,000) enlisted in the military, with Native Americans having over 12 000. On the Canadian front, Indigenous soldiers were mainly used for their hunting skills, often being restricted to sniper and scout roles. This caused a disproportionate casualty rate between Native Americans and Americans, causing more harmful consequences back in their communities. There was a strong push for looking for more ways to help on the homefront which led to significant contributions from Indigenous peoples. For example, Indigenous women created branches of the Red Cross and patriotic leagues to raise funds and clothing. In addition, many nations created organizations to donate food and other goods for the front lines. This all happened while Canadian Indigenous peoples had their fertile, ‘unused’ reserve land used for farming to supply more food to both soldiers and Canadians without their consent. An amendment to the Indian Act in 1918 allowed this to legally happen, despite the government doing it even before formally passing the act.
“Code talking” was the use of Native American languages for American military communication in WWI so that they could not be understood or countered if intercepted. Several Native American Nations participated in the effort to create secret codes through telephone lines that were no longer secure and were being compromised by German forces that had developed spy technology capable of intercepting and deciphering American military telephone communications. The U.S. Army’s 30th Infantry Division was among the first to recognize the urgent need for a solution. The uniqueness, unwritten and unstudied nature of First Nation languages created a perfect opportunity to use this language as it would be very difficult to understand. This meant that even if a message was intercepted, the chances of the Germans deciphering it were extremely slim. This made them a perfect tool for secret communication. The first known use of Code Talking in combat occurred shortly before June 21, 1918, during a battle near Château-Thierry in France. Two soldiers from the Ho-Chunk Nation, Robert Big Thunder and John Longtail, were tasked with sending crucial messages across the lines. Because the enemy could not understand their language, the communications were completely secure, giving U.S. forces a critical advantage.
The most known and documented effort of these Code Talkers was during October 1918 when an Allied barrage had begun but was met instantly by a German counterbarrage. Colonel Bloor had started to suspect that his phone lines had been tapped and the U.S. codes broken. To test his theory, he sent false coordinates for their supply dump by telephone to headquarters. Within 30 minutes, German shells began landing in that area. With their phone lines tapped, the only other means of communication was pigeons and radios, both of which were unreliable. That left runners and messengers which mostly consisted of Native Americans due to the stereotypes surrounding them. It was an extremely dangerous mission and caused casualties of 25 percent. Captain Lawrence happened to overhear two Choctaw Indians, Solomon Lewis and Bennington Mitchell Bobb, conversing in their own language. Remembering the trouble the 36th infantry had with German wire tappers, he immediately realized the potential of their language and asked the two how many other Choctaw there were in the battalion. Captain Lawrence also asked the two men if they could create code words in their language to someone who would understand at headquarters. The two men agreed and asked for the Choctaw man at headquarters to translate to English. Captain Lawrence conducted a test: a message was sent in Choctaw to headquarters, where another Choctaw soldier was able to translate it back into English. The test was a success. From then on (October 26 to November 10, 1918), Choctaw Code Talkers began officially transmitting coded messages. By this time, a more formal and constructed vocabulary had been developed, allowing code words to be used for terms not found in the Choctaw language. Examples being “artillery” or “machine gun’”. The whole list and most of the team are shown below.
List of codes used by the Choctaw Code Talkers (Left), Photo of six out of eight Choctaw Code Talkers (Right)
Soon after the discovery of use of “code talking”, more code talking units started to be created and used across American and Allied divisions. One record during the Meuse-Argonne Campaign in France followed by the Cherokee Nation from Oklahoma were employed and operated as Code Talkers. However, due to the late discovery of this new tactical communication strategy, the armistice cut these efforts short and prevented them from expanding and gaining more recognition for their cultural identity and brilliant efforts. These efforts did inspire the use of the famous Navajo codes used by Allied forces in WWII.
Despite their contributions, the Native American Code Talkers of World War I received little recognition at the time. Many Native Americans and Indigenous Canadians had volunteered to fight in hopes of recognition and to attain civil rights. Unfortunately, this did not come true and they faced the attempted stripping of culture with boarding schools (and Residential schools in Canada), discrimination and more treaties that robbed them of their land. The use of Native languages as military codes and impressive efforts remained largely classified until decades later. It wasn’t until the 21st century that efforts were made to honor these pioneers. In 2008, the U.S. Congress passed the Code Talkers Recognition Act, which honored Native American Code Talkers from both World Wars. The act awarded Congressional Gold Medals to the tribes whose members served as Code Talkers. The Choctaw Nation, in particular, worked to preserve the memory of its Code Talkers and to educate the public about their important contributions to American history.
The Native American Code Talkers of World War I were innovators in military communication whose contributions helped lay the foundation for later, more extensive code-talking programs during World War II. Their courage, linguistic skills, and cultural heritage became unexpected but powerful weapons in the fight for global freedom. Their work enabled U.S. forces to bypass German surveillance and carry out successful maneuvers at a critical moment in the war. These men not only served with honor but also helped protect the very nations that had often marginalized their people. Their legacy is a testament to the strength and resilience of Native American communities, and their vital role in the defense of the United States.
Richard L. Hayes. “Choctaw Code Talkers in World War I” Warfare History Network, 2002
“America’s First ‘Code Talkers’ The National WWI Museum and Memorial, 2023
Ginder, Jordan and Larsen, Ellora. “World War I code Talkers” National Museum United States Army, 2023
“Indigenous contributions during the First World War” The Government of Canada, 2014
Sheffield, R. Scott and Gallant, David J. “Indigneous Peoples and the First World War” The Canadian Encyclopedia, 2019 (updated 2024)
Images:
“America’s First ‘Code Talkers’ , 2023 The National WWI Museum and Memorial
Ginder, Jordan and Larsen, Ellora. “World War I Code Talkers” 2023. National Museum United States Army