” The Marines talked to me, interviewing me in English about my family and my education… There were no interviews in Navajo. Apparently the Marines assumed we all spoke Navajo.”- Chester Nez (1921-2014). This quote was said by a World War 2 Marine veteran. He was the last original Navajo Code Talker to serve in the Marines. So in this quote, Chester’s saying even though he has to suffer a lot in order to learn English at school, he reaps the rewards later when he can prove to the Marine recruiters that his grasp of English is strong as his grasp of Navajo. He’ll need both languages for his work as a code talker. The Code Talkers stories really inspires me to learn more about my language and culture. I realized that I took being able to speak Navajo as a little girl for granted because I’m eager to learn more and save my language for my people, before it dies out.
nativeyouth2college.org 