Museum seeks Navajo Vietnam veteran photos

By Diné Bureau

WINDOW ROCK — The Navajo Nation Museum is seeking photographs of Navajo Vietnam veterans who served in all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces from 1961 to1975.

Photo submissions will be accepted through Oct. 31. Information needed for each photograph includes name, rank, military branch, time served and discharge date.

The photographs will be featured at the museum along with the “Native Words, Native Warriors” traveling exhibit scheduled to open Nov. 12.

The “Native Words, Native Warriors,” exhibit, which was developed by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, and the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, celebrates the unique and valuable contributions of Native American soldiers during World Wars I and II.

“During both World Wars, hundreds of Native American soldiers served the United States by using their Native languages to send and receive secret messages. These messages proved indecipherable to the enemy and helped the U.S achieve victory,” the Smithsonian Institution Web site states.

According to the Smithsonian Institution, American Indians were first enlisted to relay messages during World War I, including soldiers from Navajo, Hopi, Comanche, Choctaw, Chippewa/ Oneida, Menominee, Sac and Fox, Sioux, Crow, Mississauga and Cree Nations.

The most well-known is the formerly classified Navajo Code Talker program, established by the U.S. Marine Corps in 1942. The program began with 29 young Navajo men who helped to create a code system. More than 380 Navajo Code Talkers were sent to the Pacific to relay information about troop movements and battle plans.

Through oral histories taken from the veterans themselves, “Native Words” celebrates and honors this important but little-reported aspect of American history. In addition to 15 large-scale banners, the exhibition will include videos examining the development of the code, battlefield experiences and the sharp turnaround many of them experiences as they transitioned from Indian boarding schools where they were punished for speaking their Native language to using it as their call to duty for their country.

Several of the photos are famous images of Navajo Code Talkers that may be familiar to many Navajos. Several photos by local photographer Kenji Kawano are part of the exhibit.

The opening of the exhibit at the Navajo Nation Museum on Nov. 12 will coincide with November celebrations of American Indian Heritage Month and Veterans Day.

The traveling exhibit has been to museums in Kansas , Missouri , Illinois and Arizona and will continue on a national tour through 2011.

For more information on the Vietnam veteran project or on the “Native Words, Native Warriors” exhibit, contact Robert Johnson at the Navajo Nation Museum at (928) 871-7941.