Lesson 0.9: The Navajo Language as a Code
The US Marines stationed in the Pacific between 1942 and 1945 used Navajo Code-Talkers to transmit secret information. Navajo is an unwritten language of extreme syntax and tonal complexity. At the time of World War II it is estimated that only about 30 non-Navajo, none of them Japanese, were fluent in the language, which made it secure for military use.
The code was extremely effective because a 3-line English message could be encoded, transmitted, and decoded in 20 seconds. Machine based ciphers of the time required 30 minutes. The skill and accuracy of the Code-Talkers was praised by the military, but not made public until 1992 because the Navajo code was still considered potentially valuable.
The Navajo did not have words for many of the military terms or other words in common English usage. However, the military wrote a codebook with codewords to represent these things. A few of these are shown below.
| English | Navajo | Literal Translation |
| Submarine | BESH-LO | Iron Fish |
| Fighter Plane | DA-HE-TIH-HI | Humming Bird |
| Battleship | LO-TSO | Whale |
| Torpedo Plane | TAS-CHIZZIE | Swallow |
| January | ATSAH-BE-YAZ | Small Eagle |
| Spain | DEBA-DE-NIH | Sheep Pain |
| Platoon | HAS-CLISH-NIH | Mud |
| Commanding General | BIH-KEH-HE | War Chief |
For words not in the codebook, the following method was used.
To encrypt and transmit:
1. Choose English words starting with each letter required.
2. Translate into Navajo.
3. Speak to another code-talker.
To decrypt:
1. Translate Navajo into English.
2. Take first letter of each word to spell out message.
Along with the codewords for commonly used words, the code dictionary had
3 different English words for each letter
so that the same message sent twice could be completely different.
For example, "leaf" could be encrypted as "lion eye apple fly" or
as "lamb ant elk fox" and several other combinations besides.
Part of the training for the Navajo Code-Talkers involved memorising this
entire dictionary.
References:
Navajo Code Talkers' Dictionary: http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq61-4.htm
Navajo Code Talkers: World War II Fact Sheet: http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq61-2.htm
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