Valerie Red-Horse


Valerie Red-Horse


Choctaw Code Talkers looks at the seldom heard story of a group of Choctaw soldiers from Oklahoma drafted into the U.S. Army to serve in World War I. “While they were fighting as soldiers, the communications broke down between the Allied Forces on the French front, and we were in essence losing the war,” says Red-Horse, “and they were asked to use their Native language to try to obtain secure communications.”  The German forces were unable to break the Choctaw code speak, and the Choctaw Code Talkers, as they came to be known, “successfully assisted with an Allied victory.”

Despite their great impact in the Allied victory, the work of the Choctaw Code Talkers was largely kept under wraps following the completion of the War.  As Red-Horse explains it, “the army had a feeling based on its success that there would be a need for this in the future, and that’s what happened with the Navajo Code Talkers in World War II.” Aside from that, the Choctaw, like all other Native Americans at the time of World War I, were not considered U.S. citizens. Red-Horse interprets this as a contributing factor in limiting the Choctaw recognition following their service. Choctaw Code Talkers looks at “who the Choctaw people are, having come out of their own Trail of Tears, and their strained relationship with the government.”



Interview conducted and edited by Ben Kreimer






