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Code talkers were used by the government to speak their language to the military personnel as a way to talk in code and communicating on the battlefield. Below is an example of words they used and how they would be coded.

Here are some of the words they used:

Letter | Navajo | English
C | MOASI | Cat
D | LHA-CHA-EH | DOG
E | DZEH | Elk
I | TKIN | Ice
O | NE-AHS-JAH | Owl
R | GAH | Rabbit
V | A-KEH-DI-GLINI | Victor

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The book "My Heart Is On the Ground," written by Ann Rinaldi is a fiction work written as the diary of a Native American girl who is sent to an American Indian Boarding School. Because the book is historical fiction, it is considered a secondary source but could still be read aloud in class to help students get a better idea of what the Boarding Schools were like through Nannie Little Rose's eyes. Some guiding questions to be asked during the reading could be:

1. Chief Spotted Tail agrees to have the children from his tribe attend the Carlisle School. But when he visits the school, he decides that the children should go back to the tribe. What made him change his mind?

2. Captain Pratt and the teachers at the Carlisle School felt they were doing the right thing to take the Native American children, cut their hair, make them wear "citizens' clothing," speak a new language, and forget the ways of their people. Why do you think they were right or wrong in their decision to treat the children the way they did?

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This map shows the location of the American Indian Boarding Schools across the US.

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This short video provides lots of primary sources for students to view and discuss in class. It also helps to give an idea of what American Indian Boarding Schools were like.

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Native American Boarding School Experience

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This is an interview with an American Indian. He talks about his experiences, feelings, and insights to the Boarding Schools. The sadness and heartbreak is undeniable.

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Our Spirits Don't Speak English: Indian Boarding School

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This article describes the story of three children who died while attending a boarding school in Carlisle, Pennsylvania in 1883. A team of experts exhumed the bodies of these children to bring them to their families.

Guiding questions:

How does this article make you feel?

How are American Indian boarding schools relevant today?

What new information did you gain about this topic?

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Guiding questions:

How does the classroom look similar to your own? How does it look different?

What do you notice about the students?

What do you think the students learned about?

What do you think school was like based on this picture?

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What were America Indian boarding schools?

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What were America Indian boarding schools?

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These schools were a form of forced assimilation; they were meant to provide American Indian children with an education while forcing them to act "American." They were created because as people began to settle further west, there was less land to push American Indians toward. The US government decided that they would "remove" American Indians through assimilation.

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American Indian families were forced to send their children to these boarding schools. At school, children were forbidden from using own names, languages, cultures, or religions. They were given Anglo-American names, as well as new haircuts and clothes to fit in with the American culture. Schools were run in a military fashion; students cut their hair short before beginning school, there were strict routines and discipline, and students learned not only academic subjects like math and science, but also trade skills like agriculture and cooking.

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When correcting behavior, teachers and staff often used violent acts as discouragement. Students and their culture were also ridiculed and children were taught that their traditions and way of life were inferior to the “American way." In the late 20th century, evidence was found of physical, sexual, and mental abuse that often occurred in these schools.