Code Talker

Code Talker by Joseph Bruchac Code Talker is a novel by Joseph Bruchac. Bruchac is an American writer who focuses his literary efforts towards works about the native people of North America. He has written several stories, books, and poetry about Native Americans and Anglo Americans in the northeast United States. Joseph Bruchac not only writes about the native people of North America but also has ties within his own lineage with the people and cultures he writes about. Bruchac is of Abenaki, a tribe from the New England area, decent. Bruchac wrote this piece to draw attention to the pivotal role the Native Navajo tribe had in the Second World War.
Seeing that the activities and missions of the Navajo people that served as code talkers was strictly kept secret for many years, a large amount of people had no idea that this tribe of Native Americans contributed so much to the war effort. Because of this, Bruchac decided to bring widespread attention to this truly amazing story of the courageous Navajo people and how their culture benefited the United States in its time of need.
This book was aimed primarily towards United States citizens who had not been informed of the Navajo’s role. Joseph Bruchac wanted to achieve his goal of education, and he did so through writing a truly gripping and enveloping story that sucks the reader and allows them to become attached to its characters and imagery. The story begins with introducing its main character, Kii Yazhi. Kii is like any other boy except that he is part of the Navajo tribe. The book describes that early in his youth, Kii saw very prevalent disrespect and mistreatment towards his people by Mexicans and especially white people. Slowly, the Navajo’s land was taken from them by these outsiders and in an effort to get Kii an education and a way out, Kii’s parents sent him to boarding school. It was here that Kii was virtually stripped of his identity as a Navajo and was told to cut his