Navajo Code-Talkers

[tcmay@got.net (Timothy C. May)]

At 2:59 PM 3/30/96, Alan Horowitz wrote:
>Is there any indication that the GRU or Chinese or Iranian intelligence
>(I think these are our only foes nowadays who have blue-water {to mix a
>metaphor} spook services) could do better than the Japanese did in
>sigint'ing against human speakers of Navajoe?

Probably. Not that it matters, as Navajo code-talking was a classic example
of security through obscurity. It served its purpose, but approaches such
as this are effectively just _very weak codes_.

I wouldn't expect this "trick" to work as well the second time around.
(Actually, it's been used throughout history, in the sense of people
speaking in what they think to be obscure variants of languages, or in
slang. There is ample evidence that teen lingo is designed to be less
intelligible to adults.)

>From where I am now sitting I can see the Defense Language Institute in
Monterey, where all sorts of obscure languages are taught. AT&T even
located their translation service here, to take advantage of the various
experts (even Yoruba speakers, Alan B. will be pleased to hear).

I'd venture that NSA also has large staffs of language experts, to
interpret the COMINT stuff vacuumed up.

>Is the Navajo language still extent among draft-age men?  Life in the
>Southwest has changed considerably since 1943.

According to an episode of "The X Files," which dealt with Navajo
code-talkers, the answer is that young Navajo men are losing their fluency
in Navajo, especially of the nuances and double entendres that code-talkers
relied upon. (For those who scoff at using a television show as a source,
writers for shows like this often do more interesting research than, say,
the average encyclopedia article will report.)

Finally, there is no draft in the U.S., of course.

--Tim May

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