War Code: Navajo
(1995, 18 min.) US
Producer: Lena Carr (Navajo)
Director: Lena Carr (Navajo)
Co-producer: Aaron Carr

Short documentary profiling Navajo code talkers who paved the path to success for America in Iwo Jima. During WW II, Marines found themselves beset by grueling battles because of Japan's ease in deciphering vital US military transmissions. Navajo, an oral language of great linguistic complexity, proved to be the one code the Axis forces could not break. With the recent release of Windtalkers, starring Nicolas Cage and Adam Beach, it's an apt time to return to the interviews of the actual code talkers telling in their own words how the Navajo language changed the outcome of one of the most significant battles of WW II.

Awards

1996 Emmy Award for Outstanding Historical Program.

Image credit: Audience at Club Red Radio, 2000 Native American Film and Video Festival - photograph by Amalia Córdova, NMAI