Navajo Nation Celebrates “Navajo Nation Code Talkers Week”

navajo code talkers
(Left to right) Speaker of the 24th Navajo Nation Council Seth Damon, President Jonathan Nez, and Chief Justice JoAnn Jayne at the signing ceremony for “Navajo Nation Code Talkers Week” at the Navajo Veterans Memorial Park in Window Rock, Ariz. on Aug. 12, 2019. [Photo courtesy Navajo Nation]

WINDOW ROCK – Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez, 24th Navajo Nation Speaker Seth Damon, and Chief Justice JoAnn Jayne signed a proclamation on Monday recognizing “Navajo Nation Code Talkers Week.”

The Navajo Nation Code Talkers Week acknowledges and commemorates the invaluable
contributions of the Navajo Code Talkers in collaboration with the annual “Navajo Code Talker
Day” on Aug. 14, to honor the brave Navajo men who protected our people, freedom, and land.
“Today is a remarkable day for the Navajo Nation as we recognize and honor our great, selfless,
and brave Navajo warriors and their families and communities. Many of our Code Talkers have
gone on, but we are blessed to have several that remain with us to this day. Our Navajo Code
Talkers deserve a salute for their bravery and courage to defend and protect our country using
our sacred Diné language,” said President Nez.

“The contributions our Navajo Code Talkers and veterans made for our country are beyond
immeasurable. Their precise use of our language as a code demonstrated the power of Diné
Bizaad in restoring balance, peace and security to our homeland. Afterward, many continued their service after their return from the war as Councilmen for the Navajo Tribe. Today, the Navajo Nation signs this proclamation for Navajo Nation Code Talkers Week in recognition of the unfailing service that all Navajo Code Talkers carried out for our People,” said Speaker Damon.

Chief Justice JoAnn B. Jayne said, “We are blessed and grateful for the Navajo Code Talkers who have given us freedom. Our language has always been paramount to our sovereignty and our survival as a people. We must continue to honor the legacy of the Navajo Code Talkers by
speaking Diné Bizaad every day and teaching our language to our children.”

During the signing, President Nez highlighted the historic proclamation signed by former U.S.
President Ronald Reagan that designated August 14 as the National Navajo Code Talkers Day.
President Reagan’s proclamation allowed the Navajo Code Talkers to be properly recognized after decades of secrecy around the Navajo Code Talkers program. The Navajo Nation made a similar declaration in 2006.

In 1942, the Navajo Nation answered the call of the United States of America during World War II and sent brave men and boys, known at the Navajo Code Talkers, to defend the Navajo people, Navajo Nation, and the country. The young Navajo Marines helped to devise an impenetrable code based on Diné Bizaad, the Navajo language, that is widely acknowledged as the deciding factor in the Pacific Theatre of the war effort.

“We ask our people to take time during the week to remember those who have passed on and
their families who continue to honor them. Most of us will never experience what the Navajo
Code Talkers and their families went through, but we can thank them by honoring their duty and our sacred language,” added Vice President Lizer.

 

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