ND, SD tribal leaders plan monument to honor code talkers

STANDING ROCK SIOUX RESERVATION, N.D. (AP) – Tribal leaders in the Dakotas are working together to build a monument to honor Native American code talkers.

The code talkers were a group of American Indians who used their native languages to outwit the enemy and protect U.S. battlefield communications during World Wars I and II.

The monument would be displayed on the South Dakota capitol grounds.

South Dakota Secretary of Tribal Relations Steven Emery tells KXMB-TV that the Native American veterans planning the memorial will first pick a design and then organize fundraising efforts.

Emery says recognition for this group of soldiers is long overdue. He says the secrecy surrounding the role of the code talkers is the reason why they’ve been honored “far too late.”

The planning group hopes to have the monument complete by 2016.

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Information from: KXMB-TV, http://www.kxnet.com