Sioux Code Talkers of World War II

by Andrea M. Page

Overview

Decode the story of the Sioux who helped win the war.

In World War II, code making and code breaking reached a feverish peak. The fabled Enigma cipher had been broken, and all sides were looking for a secure, reliable means of communication. Many have heard of the role of the Navajo Code Talkers, but less well-known are the Sioux Code Talkers, who used the Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota dialects. Told by the great-niece of John Bear King, who served in the First Cavalry as a Sioux Code Talker, this informative title explores not only the importance of the indigenous peoples to the war but also their culture and values. Follow the seven Sioux who put aside a long history of prejudice against their people and joined the fight against Japan.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781455622436
Publisher:	Arcadia Publishing SC
Publication date:	03/01/2017
Pages:	136
Sales rank:	444,289
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.60(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	10 - 14 Years

About the Author

Andrea M. Page is a sixth grade ELA teacher and member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. Her interest in her great-uncle's story began in 1994 when a family member found a newspaper article about John Bear King, revealing his previously unknown World War II service. For twenty years, Page has gathered information on his story through interviews and research. She is a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.

Editorial Reviews

03/01/2017
Gr 7 Up—This well-documented title vividly brings to life the story of John Bear King and other Sioux code talkers during World War II. What makes this nonfiction text unique is the painstaking detail the author, the great-niece of King, took to research actual coded messages in military archives and transcribe them into the Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota languages. Page consulted not only scholars in this field of research but also native Lakota speakers. The perspective of the Lakota and their cultural values are carefully woven into the narrative, which recounts their history with white settlers from the 1800s to the advent of the Second World War. Page provides a balanced account of the Lakota, who, in spite of numerous broken treaties with the U.S. government, always fought to defend their homelands and the United States. The book is engaging from start to finish, with a well-written text that is enhanced by period photographs and reproductions of significant documents. VERDICT A valuable work for teens studying code talkers and American Indian contributions to the U.S. victory in the Pacific theater.—Naomi Caldwell, Alabama State University, Montgomery

School Library Journal

2016-12-26
The role of Navajo Code Talkers in World War II is fairly well-known, but this informative book reveals the equally important contributions of Sioux Code Talkers who served in the Pacific theater. Page, the great-niece of John Bear King, who served in the 1st Cavalry Division in the Pacific, chronicles the service of her great-uncle and six other members of Sioux nations who used their Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota dialects for a secure, reliable means of communicating important information on the battlefield. "By placing the Lakota Code Talkers in the battlefield and at headquarters," Page explains, "the seven Sioux Indians could converse freely in their native language in the radios without worrying about the Japanese decoding and intercepting the messages." Even if the Japanese tapped into lines, they would never understand the messages, as Lakota was virtually unknown to the outside world—thanks, ironically, to American attempts at cultural genocide. Page notes that the language was recorded in books, but the books were banned from schools in the early 1900s, so it was known only by a small number of scholars and people born and raised on the reservations. Page explores not only the importance of these soldiers to the war, but also their history, culture, and values. An engagingly written, deeply researched account of a little-known part of World War II. (maps, photos, bibliography) (Nonfiction. 10-14)

Kirkus Reviews