Before You Read

This work comes from the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian online exhibit, Native Words, Native Warriors, which documents the history of the American Indian Code Talkers. The Code Talkers were American Indian warriors during World War I and II who served in the U.S. military and used their Native languages to create military codes to communicate messages that the enemy forces could not decipher.

The chapter, “Struggling with Cultural Repression,” examines the early lives of the Code Talkers during the late nineteenth century, when they were sent to boarding schools as children, often against their families’ will. These boarding schools were operated by the U.S. government and churches and their purpose was to assimilate American Indian children to dominant culture by changing everything from their clothing and cultural practices to their Native names and languages. Through archival records and personal stories, this chapter illustrates the harsh realities of these boarding schools and negative impacts on Native children’s self-esteem and cultural identities. At the same time, many held onto elements of their Native culture, including their Native languages, which would later become an asset in their military service.

Introduction by Jeanetta Mohlke-Hill

Struggling with Cultural Repression

from The National Museum of the American Indian

View Struggling with Cultural Repression

The National Museum of the American Indian. “Struggling With Cultural Repression.” The Commons: Tools for Reading, Writing, and Rhetoric (2nd ed.), edited by Jill Parrott and Dominic Ashby, Eastern Kentucky University, 2026.