The Oklahoma Military Hall of Fame inducted the Kiowa Code Talkers for their service in World War II, for their use of coded language, never cracked by enemy soldiers. There are four Indigenous code-talking groups honored by the Oklahoma Military Heritage Foundation: Pawnee, Choctaw, Comanche and, now, Kiowa.
Three Kiowa Code Talkers received state recognition for their service 80 years ago in World War II at the Oklahoma Military Hall of Fame's 26th annual banquet: Private First Class Leonard "Red Wolf" Cozad Sr., Private First Class James Paddlety Jr. and Private John Tsatoke.
None of the code talkers were alive to witness this induction ceremony on Nov. 1, Kiowa Chairman Lawerence Spottbird said during the tribe's acceptance speech.
"All these Kiowa legends are deceased," Spottedbird said. "But their legacy as Kiowa warriors, the legacy of all of our Kiowa warriors, lives on today. …Thank you all for coming and recognizing this and standing with us, fellow veterans who have served proudly again to serve and protect this flag that's behind us so that we all can enjoy the freedom today."
One of the three Kiowa Code Talkers honored was Leonard "Red Wolf" Cozad Sr. His son Daniel Cozad, whose Kiowa name is Sait-keen-Tahay or Bear Shield, said he learned his father was a code talker after his death.
"We didn't know until the United States Congress recognized it that they got hold of us and told us about it," the younger Cozad said. "So I figured that, you know, it was an order that never to be broken."
Cozad said now his father's legacy as a Kiowa code talker is a point of pride for his family, as well as the songs he created after serving his country. He explained that a pivotal moment in his dad's life occurred when he was injured at war.
"He said, I don't want to die here in foreign soil," Cozad said. "I want to go back home. … and he was praying and he said I want to do something for our people. So when he came back, our daddy, he was a composer of our tribal songs."
Cozad couldn't put a number on how many songs his father composed. But he said they continue to be sung by his descendants and others, such as the Kiowa Black Leggings Society, a Kiowa veterans society for their male citizens.
"He left a legacy," Cozad said. "That's what we try to carry on. …To sing these songs are for the people. And that's what this is all about."
Code Talker history
Bill Meadows is a professor of anthropology and Native American studies at Missouri State University. He advocated for the induction of the Kiowa Code Talkers into the Oklahoma Military Hall of Fame. Before that, he helped get the 2008 Native American Code Talkers Act passed by testifying before Congress. The act recognizes code talkers, or Native Americans who used their respective languages to send secret wartime communication.
Meadows's research has led him to identify about 35 different tribes that had code talkers. Some had more formal training, he said, such as the Navajos and Comanches; however, more groups did not have a formal code list, which he noted worked just fine.
"Most of these languages, Native languages at this time, were not written," Meadows said. "There was nothing published. So you couldn't go to a library in Berlin or Paris and pull anything out."
Among Oklahoma tribal nations, Meadows said there were Choctaw, Cherokee and Comanche code talkers in World War I, as well as references to Osages. As for World War II, he named Muscogee, Seminoles, Choctaw, Kiowa and Pawnees.
"It was cutting edge," Meadows said. "It's a fairly simple idea in hindsight, but it was cutting edge."
Ironically, the vast majority of the code talkers attended boarding schools, Meadows said. Leonard "Red Wolf" Cozad Sr. went to a small Southwest Oklahoma day school and was punished for speaking his language, according to his son. But he continued to speak his language fluently and served as an inspiration to his family. Even the next generation.
"That was a time when there were policies to eliminate our language," said Dustin Cozad, a grandson of Leonard Cozad Sr. "But yet at the same time, it was our language that helped save our country during a critical time."
This report was produced by the Oklahoma Public Media Exchange, a collaboration of public media organizations. Help support collaborative journalism by donating at the link at the top of this webpage.
