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Article Databases
The following indexes and databases are accessed from the University Libraries home page by clicking on "Indexes" and entering the title of the database in the space provided. Useful searches include: "American Indian veterans," "native veterans," "world war American Indians," "Vietnam American Indians," "warrior society," "honor ceremony," and "Code Talker."
America History and Life is useful for searches of scholarly journals. Searches extend back to 1954. Indexes and Abstracts over 2,400 articles, bibliographic citations of reviews and dissertations on the history and culture of the USA and Canada from prehistoric times to the present time.
Archives USA is a current directory of 5,400 repositories and 124,400 collections of primary source material across the United States. Using ArchivesUSA, researchers are able to read descriptions of a repository's holdings to determine if a collection contains material useful to their work. Each collection record links to its corresponding repository record, simplifying the research process. Microfiche finding guides are available in the University Libraries.
Bibliography of Native North Americans covers the history, life and culture of native North Americans. Indexes works from the 16th century to the present, including monographs, essays, journal articles, government documents, historical and ethnographic books, and dissertations.
Ethnic Newswatch contains articles from a variety of native-oriented and tribally run newspapers such as Akwesasne Notes and Indian Country Today from 1989 until the present. Full-text of ethnic, minority and native press newspapers, magazines and journals. Provides a broad diversity of perspectives and viewpoints. Represents the diversity of the American population in ways that are not seen in the mainstream media.
Ingenta (formerly Uncover) Contains citations to articles taken from tables of contents of nearly 17,000 journal titles held by libraries throughout the United States. An online document delivery system enables user to request the complete text of articles for a fee.
Helpful Websites
In addition to the most important links listed below, there are a number of ever changing sites set up by veterans, veteran groups and warrior societies, and relatives and friends of native veterans. While valuable for describing how veteran service is viewed in individual and collective memory, the accuracy of such sites is open to debate, especially for interpretations of major events.
- "Native Americans in the US Military," www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq61-1.htm This is a good place to start, with a broad overview of native veterans. It also has links on the Code Talkers.
- "The People's Path Home Page-American and Canadian Indians in the Military," www.yvwiiusdinvnohii.net/military.htm This has perhaps the largest collection of links related to native veterans on the web and is regularly updated.
Navajo Code Talkers Association
Jean Whitehorse, Secretary
POB 20
Smith Lake, New Mexico, 87365
Telephone: (505) 786-7223
Objects
GI Joe Navajo Code Talker Doll, Pawtucket, RI, Hasbro Inc., 1999. Speaks seven Navajo phrases along with the English translation. Includes lists of words from the Navajo Code. LAB EPH IN-194.
Navajo Code Game, Title I Navajo Curriculum Development and Production Center, n.d. Intended for middle school children. Includes game pieces, map, worksheets, and teacher's edition. LAB LSM-52.
Ephemera
Included are small manuscripts, informational brochures, museum publications, photographs (including slides), radio transcripts, and poetry. Every possible topic is covered providing a great variety of material for research. To locate ephemera related to Native veterans and Code Talkers, search the American Indian Index and/or the Arizona and Southwestern Index, which is accessed from the Index tab on the ASU Library homepage. Type in searches such as "veterans," "world war," "Vietnam," "warrior society," "honor ceremony," and "Code Talker."
Books on Veterans
- A Study of Cultural Resistance: The Veterans of World War II at Zuni Pueblo by John AdairCall number: FILM 253An older thesis that focuses on conflict between newly returned veterans and the native community.
- Al Carroll Collection by Al CarrollContains information used for his dissertation covering American Indians in World War I and II, Vietnam, Korea, Desert Storm, Afghanistan, and Iraq.
- American Indians in World War I: At Home and Abroad by Thomas BrittenCall number: D570.8 .I6 B75 1997Concentrates on providing an overview of the native experience in World War I.
- American Indians and World War II: Toward a New Era in Indian Affairs by Alison BernsteinCall number: D810 .I5 B47 1991The main focus of the book is on policy, especially how the war affected the New Deal for Indians.
- Crossing the Pond: The Native American Effort in World War II, by Jere FrancoCall number: D810 .I5 F73 1999The author gives a broad overview of the native experience during the war in addition to providing a close look at the sovereignty issue.
- From Reorganization to Relocation: Arizona Indians and World War II by Tina MooreCall number: LD179 .I5 1995 .M667Also covers the periods before and after the war.
- The Iroquois Struggle for Survival: From World War II to Red Power by Laurence HauptmanCall number: E99 .I7 H34 1986A landmark work, groundbreaking in its use of oral accounts, that focuses on tribal histories told from the Six Nations' own point of view.
- Navajos and World War II by Broderick JohnstonCall number: D810 .I5 N38A collection of first person accounts by Navajo veterans and their relatives, gathered in the 1970s.
- Of Uncommon Birth: Dakota Sons in Vietnam by Mark St. PierreCall number: DS 558.2 .S68 2003A work of creative nonfiction inspired by the true story of two South Dakota teenagers, Mark St. Pierre's Of Uncommon Birth draws upon extensive interviews and exhaustive research in military archives to present a harrowing story of two young men-one white, one Indian-caught in the vortex of the Vietnam War.
- A Seneca Indian in the Union Army: the Civil War letters of Sergeant Isaac Newton Parker by Laurence M. HauptmanCall number: E540 .I3 P37 19951861-1865 Civil War Heritage Series
- Strong Hearts, Wounded Souls by Tom HolmCall number: E98 .W2 H64 1996The only book on native veterans of Vietnam, as well as the only general work from a native scholar and not by a historian. (Holm is Cherokee and a political scientist.) It was the first book to completely break with assimilationist perspectives on native veterans.
- A Study of Cultural Resistance: The Veterans of World War II at Zuni Pueblo by John AdairCall number: Film 253An older thesis that focuses on conflict between newly returned veterans and the native community.
- World War II and the American Indian by Kenneth TownsendCall number: D810 .I5 T69 2000The latest work on native veterans, presenting a theme of the military as a way of assimilation.
This bibliography lists both general works on native veterans as well as primary sources for research that are available in the University Libraries, Arizona State University, and the Labriola National American Indian Data Center in particular.
Nearly all general works on native veterans were written in the past ten years, part of a burgeoning interest in the topic. The main exceptions to that have been works on the Code Talkers. This bibliography does NOT include works on Indian scouts of the nineteenth century or Indian nations as allies fighting alongside the United States against other Indian nations.
Books on Code Talkers
- Navajo Code Talkers by Nathan AsaengCall number: 940.54 Aa77naDescribes how the military employed a group of Navajos who created an unbreakable code based on their native language.
- The Navajo Code Talkers by Doris PaulCall number: D810 .C88 P38The first book written on the Code Talkers shortly after their existence was declassified by the military.
- They Talked Navajo=Dine Bizaad ChoziidCall number: D810 .C88 T45xIndian Oral History Project, this is a record of the 1971 Code Talkers reunion in Window Rock.
- Unsung Heroes of World War II: The Story of the Navajo Code Talkers by Durett DeaneCall number: D810 .C88 D87 1998Describes the role of a select group of Navajo Marines who developed a code based on their own native language during World War II.
- Warriors: Navajo Code Talkers by Kenji KawanoCall number: D810 .C88 K38 1990Includes many illustrations by the noted photographer.
- Winds of Freedom: The Story of the Navajo Code Talkers by Margaret BixlerCall number: D810 .C88 B59 1995Includes bibliographical references and index as well as a map on lining paper.
- Navajo Weapon by Sally McLainCall number: D810 .C88 M35x 1994Details the little known stories of Navajo Code Talkers of World War II.
- Phillip Johnston and the Navajo Code Talkers by Sybil LagerquistCall number: D810 .C88 L3xAn older and brief book that focuses on the relationship between the Code Talkers and Johnston, the son of a missionary who first suggested Navajos be employed for cryptology.
- The Comanche Code Talkers of World War II by William C. MeadowsCall number: D810 .C88 M43 2002This text tells the full story of the Comanche Code Talkers. Drawing on interviews with all surviving members of the unit, their original training officer, and fellow soldiers, as well as military records and news accounts, William C. Meadows follows the group from their recruitment and training to their active duty in World War II and on through their postwar lives up to the present.
Reference Books
- Atlas of the North American Indian by Carl WaldmanCall number: E77 .W195 2000 Ref
- Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes by Carl WaldmanCall number: E76.2 .W35 1999 Ref
- Native America in the Twentieth Century by Mary DavisCall number: E76.2 .N36 1994 Ref
- Encylopedia of Native American Religions by Arlene HirschfelderCall number: E98 .R3 H73 1992
The following reference books in the Labriola Center contain articles on native veterans or aspects of their experience.
Included are small manuscripts, informational brochures, museum publications, photographs (including slides), radio transcripts, and poetry. Every possible topic is covered providing a great variety of material for research. To locate ephemera related to Native veterans and Code Talkers, search the American Indian Index and/or the Arizona and Southwestern Index, which is accessed from the Index tab on the ASU Library homepage. Type in searches such as "veterans," "world war," "Vietnam," "warrior society," "honor ceremony," and "Code Talker."
Audio and Video
- Code Talkers by Vincent CraigCall number: LAB AUDIO AT-128Contains two songs: "Code Talkers" and "Good bye Miss Rodeo."
- Marine Corps Navajo Code Talkers by Benis M. FrankCall number: D810 .I5 M37 CDROMOral History Transcript
History and Museums Division, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps, 1976. - Navajo Code Talkers: A Film by Tom McCarthyCall number: D810 .N38x 1990 VIDEOIncludes scenes of 1940s archival footage of Navajo life, World War II, interviews with Peter McDonald, Carl Gorman, and R.C. Gorman, and the Presidential commendation by Ronald Reagan.
- Navajo Code Talkers During World War II by Kelsie AxelrodCall number: D810 .C88 A94 2004Narrated slide show documentary about Navajo code talkers in World War II. Originally an entry in the National History Day competition and named a finalist in the regional competition in the state of Washington.
- Navajo Code Talking by A&E Television NetworksCall number: D810 .C88 N383 1998 VIDEODescribes the role of a select group of Navajo Marines who developed a code based on their native language that provided a means for secure communications among American forces in the Pacific during World War II.
- Recollections of Charles Chibitty: the Last Comanche Codetalker by Dwayne Noble, Eric Noble, Jeff EskewCall number: D810 .C88 R43 2000 VIDEOInterview with Charles Chibitty, a Comanche codetalker in Europe during World War II.
Oral Histories
American Indian Oral History Collection, El Paso, TX: Southwest Micropublishing, 1990. Here are transcripts of oral histories held at the University of New Mexico in conjunction with the Center for Southwest Research on the Navajo and Pueblo Indians. A guidebook is available.
http://library.lib.asu.edu/record=b2643662
FILM 9642 r.1-11
Oral History Tapes of Ralph Cameron. On tape one, Ralph Cameron speaks about his World War II military exploits from childhood to leaving for Panama. On side two, he speaks about sailing to Panama and his arrival in the South Pacific.
http://knet/archives/?searchSPMI=ralph cameron oral history&dbpiece[]=amii&type=title
LAB LO-1
University of South Dakota Indian Oral History Collection, American Indian Research Project, Glen Rock, NJ: Microfilming Corporation of America, 1975. Part of the New York Times Oral History Program on microfilm. A collection of interviews with Plains Indians and those working with them. Some native veterans of the world wars discuss their experiences, including some Canadian military veterans. A guidebook is available.
http://library.lib.asu.edu/record=b1472136
FICHE 4x6 3004
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