Code talker

Article summary

soldiers in training in World War I for coded radio and telephone transmissions|alt=Group of Choctaw soldiers holding American flag A code talker was a person employed by the military during wartime to use a little-known language as a means of secret communication. The term is most often used for United States service members during the World Wars who used their knowledge of Native American languages as a basis to transmit coded messages. There were approximately 400 to 500 Native Americans in the United States Marine Corps whose primary job was to transmit secret tactical messages. Code talkers transmitted messages over military telephone or radio communications nets using formally or informally developed codes built upon their indigenous languages. The code talkers improved the speed of encryption and decryption of communications in front line operations during World War II and are credited with some decisive victories. Their code was never broken.

Key claims

1. date of death: 2003 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
2. date of death: 2019 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
3. date of death: 2014-03-31 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
4. date of death: 2014-06-04 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
5. date of death: 2019 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
6. date of death: 2019-01-13 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
7. date of death: 2019-05-24 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
8. date of death: 2019 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
9. date of death: 2020-01-31 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
10. date of death: 2022-07-29 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
11. date of death: 2024-10-18 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
12. population: 150,000 people — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
13. population: 16 percent — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95

Discussion questions

1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
2. The record states that the date of death is "2003". What evidence would count against this claim?
3. The record states that the date of death is "2019". What evidence would count against this claim?
4. The record states that the date of death is "2014-03-31". What evidence would count against this claim?
5. The record states that the date of death is "2014-06-04". What evidence would count against this claim?
6. The record states that the date of death is "2019". What evidence would count against this claim?
7. The record states that the date of death is "2019-01-13". What evidence would count against this claim?
8. The record states that the date of death is "2019-05-24". What evidence would count against this claim?
9. The record states that the date of death is "2019". What evidence would count against this claim?
10. The record states that the date of death is "2020-01-31". What evidence would count against this claim?
11. The record states that the date of death is "2022-07-29". What evidence would count against this claim?
12. The record states that the date of death is "2024-10-18". What evidence would count against this claim?
13. The record states that the population is "150,000 people". What evidence would count against this claim?
14. The record states that the population is "16 percent". What evidence would count against this claim?
15. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
16. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

Bibliography

1. Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1377125441