History and Legacy of Cherokee Code Talkers Sought

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. — To some people, Veterans Day may simply be just another day that the post office is closed. But for many, especially many Native Americans, it is a day of remembrance of those who have sacrificed their time with their loved ones, their safety, their health and their lives for their nation. Recent stories and popular media, such as the 2002 movie “Windtalkers,” have shed light on the roles some Native Americans have played during wartime using tribal languages to baffle the enemy. A number of Navajo and Choctaw “code talkers” have been celebrated as heroes, but most people are not aware that Cherokee soldiers also used their language as a way to both convey and conceal critical information on the battlefield.

One such soldier was Cherokee Nation citizen George Adair.  Born in Braggs, Okla., May 24, 1887, Adair enlisted in the U.S. Army in September of 1917.  After his basic training, Adair was assigned to the 36th Division and sent to the line in France in World War I. Adair, along with other Cherokees, was put in the telephone service. It was those Cherokee soldiers’ responsibility to receive and transmit crucial orders in their native language. Cherokee and other tribal languages were alien to the enemies of the Central Powers, rendering them unable to decipher the American communications spoken in those languages. Unfortunately only Adair’s name remains known among the Cherokee who performed code talking services.

Historians say it is impossible to know how many Allies’ lives were saved thanks to the Cherokee and other Native code talkers in both World War I and World War II. According to research conducted by the Smithsonian’s Museum of the American Indian, more than 12,000 American Indians, including hundreds of Cherokees, served in World War I—about 25 percent of the male American Indian population at that time. The MAI’s research also showed that during World War II, when the total American Indian population was less than 350,000, an estimated 44,000 American Indian men and women served. Some estimates show that as many as 40 Cherokees may have been called upon to act as code talkers during the two wars.

Cherokee Nation historians would like to find and speak with any surviving Cherokee code talkers or their descendants who could shed some light on what contributions the code talkers made to American war efforts. Dr. Richard Allen, a Cherokee Nation research analyst who is himself a Vietnam War veteran, said the tribe is asking for help with researching additional Cherokee code talkers so that their efforts can be recognized, but so far it has been slow going.

“He [George Adair] had to have had other Cherokees with whom he could talk and that is why we are trying to determine who other Cherokees might have been in his unit,” said Allen. “It is going to require more research.  All of the Cherokees likely would have been original enrollees. So if we are able to find a roster and compare names with the Dawes Commission rolls, we may be able to define who the others might be.”

Allen says the code talkers’ history is part of the bigger picture of Cherokees serving and protecting their country that goes back decades, perhaps even centuries.

In recent history, however, Cherokee citizens’ service is not restricted to World War I and World War II, as record attendance at a pre-Veterans Day celebration at the Cherokee Nation this week indicated. One of the speakers during the event, Cherokee Nation Deputy Principal Chief Joe Grayson, Jr., is himself a veteran of the Vietnam War. His father, grandfather and son are all veterans as well. An outsider looking in may be surprised by the degree of patriotism shown by Cherokee citizens. Even in today’s modern conflicts, Cherokee Nation has an unusually high number of people who are willing to brave life threatening situations in defense of their country. Grayson isn’t surprised.

“We’re very proud of our culture. We’re not a warrior society,” said Grayson, “but ...we lost our homelands once and we don’t plan to lose them again.”

The tribe also doesn’t want to lose the legacy of the part its citizens played as code talkers during past war efforts. If you are a surviving Cherokee code talker, or a relative of someone who served in that capacity, the Cherokee Nation wants to hear from you. Please call 918-453-5541 or e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you have information to share.