01/29/2026
During World War I, more than 10,000 Native Americans served in the U.S. military—even though they did not have full rights of citizenship. The service of these men made an impact that would ripple through Europe and through history.
The 36th Infantry Division was composed of guardsmen from Texas and Oklahoma. It was a diverse unit representing Arapaho, Caddo, Cherokee, Cheyenne, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, Delaware, Osage, Peoria, Ponca, Quapaw, Seminole, Shawnee, Mexican, German, Irish, Italian, and Swedish heritage. The division trained at Camp Bowie outside Forth Worth before shipping off to France.
Allied Forces faced a difficult information battle alongside the physical one; the German military continued to break codes in English and French. But Native American languages—not widely known or written—held an advantage.
A group of Choctaw men from the 36th Division became “code talkers” (a term coined later, for the Navajo code talkers of WWII). They developed a system to convey sensitive information in the Choctaw language, adapting words as needed. Tali, “stone,” meant gr***de; tanampo chito, “big gun,” meant artillery.
In late October 1918, the Choctaw soldiers coordinated the movement of U.S. troops in northern France. Within 24 hours of implementing the Choctaw code, the battle turned, and within 72 hours, the German forces were in full retreat.
19 Choctaw men served as code talkers in WWI, paving the way for dozens of other tribes to use their languages as military code.
Learn more about the “telephone warriors” in this video by the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sskGy3q5wpI
📷: IU Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology
