from a student of native American studies

Rating: 6/10 (17 June 2007)

Windtalkers: Navajo Honor and Hollywood Hype
Windtalkers Director and Producer was John Woo. Cast of this WWII film included Nicolas Cage as Sgt. Joe Enders; Christian Slater as Sgt Pete Anderson; Peter Styormare as Gunnery Sgt. Hjelmstand; Noah Emmerich as Pvt. Chick; Mark Ruffalo as Pvt. Pappas; Brian Van Holt as Pvt. Harrigan; and Martin Henderson as Pvt. Nellie. Two actors played two of the first twenty-nine Navaho code talkers, among the total of 375 to 420 Navajo code talkers.. The first, Adam Beach, played Pvt. Ben Yahzee. The second, Roger Willie, is a Navajo who played Pvt. Charlie Whitehorse. Willie served in the US Army during the Persian Gulf War and spoke the Navajo language better than he spoke English (1). Windtalkers was nominated for several awards (2). It was nominated for but did not receive a Harry award in 2003. The Harry award honored films which conveyed history authentically. The film was nominated for a Taurus Award for Best Fire Stunt and Best High Work. Windtalkers was nominated and won a Taurus Award for Best Fire Stunt in a scene in which a soldier with a flame thrower backpack is set afire, crawls, and is shot by Sgt. Enders.
During WWII the United States' forces in the Pacific needed a code that the Japanese could not break. The Department of the Navy - Naval Historical Center (3) noted Philip Johnston, the son of a missionary to the Navajos and one of the few non-Navajo persons who could speak the language, met with Amphibious Corps, Pacific Fleet, commander Vogel who adopted the idea The code that was developed was never broken. In Windtalkers Marine non-commissioned officers were told to watch over the Navajo code talkers and shoot them if they are taken captive.
The two Navaho are met with prejudice by the other Marines but they gradually win their respect. For example, character Chick, who insults the Navajo throughout the movie, finally states that Charlie White Horse saved his life after Charlie White Horse's death caused by Sgt. Enders tossing a grenade to keep him from being captured by the Japanese. . . Chick appeared to be amazed that White Horse would save his life. When Ben Yahzee, Navajo code talker, was in danger of being captured, Sgt. Enders couldn't kill him and rescued him instead.
I thought the main characters should have been the two Navajo code talkers. Whites exploited natives again by using them and then considering them expendable if they work in danger of being captured. The whites were tricksters because they didn't tell the Navaho their complete orders.
Windwalkers is not a native American film because the Navajo were only supporting characters. The main focus was on Sgt. Joe Enders and his inner turmoil as he kept pushing Ben Yahzee, code talker, away from him. Yahzee kept trying to be a friend to Enders and seemed puzzled when Enders did not respond to his offers of friendship.
Although the idea of using the Navaho code is historically correct and was very useful to the US Marines in the Pacific, other facts were not included. In the Saipan invasion the US troops outnumbered the Japanese 127,000 to 31,000. (4) The film seemed to reverse the proportions. The movie was filmed in Hawaii rather than Saipan. Hollywood stereotypes substituted for a genuine depiction of the honor and dedication of the Navajo. The inner thoughts of the Navajo aren't explored anymore here than in the typical Hollywood story about whites and Indians. I do not recommend the film, another white man's version of WWII which uses characterizations of native Americans to boost the status of the box office star. The real Windtalkers deserved better from Ne-He-Mah, the code for America, "our mother."
Footnotes (1) Biography for Roger Willie,IMDb http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0932194/bio (2)Awards for Windtalkers, IMDb,http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0245562/awards (3) Molnar, A. (1997)Frequently Asked Questions: Navajo Code talkers: World War II Fact Sheet, Department of the Navy, Washington, D.C. http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq61-2..htm