Code Talker
Memorial on way to AZ capitol
Navajo Code Talker Keith Little, of Crystal, takes in a 9 foot model of a Code
Talker statue Wednesday in the studio of the artist Oreland Joe in Fruitland.
Little said his final opinion of the statue will be made when they decide
where it will be installled; he hopes it will be somewhere central to the
Navajo Nation. (Photo by Craig Robinson/Independent)
By Pamela G. Dempsey
Diné Bureau
UPPER FRUITLAND — The Valley of the Sun will
soon host another monument to Native American warriors.
The Code Talker Memorial, well underway, will sit at Wesley Bolin Plaza
in front
of the state capitol. A second memorial will sit in Window Rock.
The artist, Oreland Joe, hosted an open-house Wednesday so the public could take
a last look at the monument before it is sent to Prescott to be cast in bronze.
The casting process at Bronze Smith Fine Art Foundry, will take five months.
"I'm really happy with it," Joe said.
Arizona State Representative Sylvia Laughter, I-District 2, sponsored the legislation
to publicly honor the Code Talkers.
"They need to be recognized," Laughter said. "It's long overdue."
Laughter said while Wesley Bolin Plaza boasts monuments to other veterans, there
wasn't one honoring Navajo Code Talkers, few of whom are still alive.
During World War II, the United States created a code based on the Navajo language.
The Navajo Code Talkers, initially 29 then an estimated 420, transmitted messages
using this code. The code remained unbroken and is credited for helping to win
the war. The Code Talkers' role remained quiet until 1981 when they were officially
recognized by former President Ronald Reagan.
"It's late in coming, but it's something to remember for a long time," Keith
Little, a Code Talker, said of the monument.
Laughter's bill was approved in 2003 on the condition that funds for the monument
were donated, not taken from the state budget.
The Navajo Code Talker Memorial Foundation Inc. was created for that purpose.
Joe was commissioned to craft the monument. His 25 years as a highly-recognized
artist and induction into the Cowboy Artists of America leaves him with a thirst
to learn more.
"It feels good to complete a project," Joe said. "You kind of
miss it after awhile."
The 9-foot high bronze sculpture of a Code Talker on bended knee listening to
a headset is made of Styrofoam and then layered with 1" of clay. Laughter
said she hopes it will do more than honor legendary warriors.
"I want to educate our youth," Laughter said.
Little agrees.
"The things I have done as a Navajo Code Talker, I don't think about or
talk about unless it benefits our younger generation," Little said.
On the Net: http://www.codetalkermemorial.com
|
Thursday
April 29, 2004
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Code
Talker Memorial on way to AZ capitol
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Gallupians ’arrested,
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Ignition
Interlock Bill jump starts candidacy
Death |
