Five Menominee Nation code talkers were honored Sunday during the 25th annual Gathering of Warriors pow-wow presented by the Veterans of the Menominee Nation at the Woodland Bowl in Keshena.
In November, the Menominee and 24 other tribes received congressional gold medals to honor the code talkers, who used their native language to transmit secret messages in World War II, during a ceremony in Washington, D.C.
Along with blankets, silver duplicates of the gold medal given to the tribe were presented Sunday to families of the five deceased code talkers: Dan Waupoose, John C. O’Katchekum, Mose Wausakokamick, Dave Mathapotow and William Matchapatow.
“These code talkers are truly heroes in our nation,” Warren Wilbur, commander of the Veterans of the Menominee Nation, told the crowd of hundreds.
One side of the medal depicts a code talker using communication equipment while three P-51 Mustangs fly overhead. Inscriptions are Menominee code talkers and Omaeqnomenew kemoc keketotatowak, which translates to “Menominee secretly talk to each other.”
The other side features the thunderbird, which is the center element of the Menominee Nation seal; the five clans (bear, eagle, wolf, moose and crane), a sturgeon and wild rice. The Menominee Nation is known for its reliance on wild rice and its reverence for sturgeon. Inscriptions are World War II and Act of Congress 2008.
Laurie Boivin, Menominee tribal chairperson, explained the importance of the code talkers honored at the ceremony.
Because of the secret and important nature of their work, the code talkers were assigned special bodyguards in order to protect them and military secrets, Boivin said.
“The security detail ordered the bodyguards to kill (the code talkers) in event they believed they would be captured,” she said. “So today we are honoring their families.”
Following discharge from World War II, code talkers were sworn to secrecy by the federal government. The order was not lifted until the 1980s.
Boivin credited Wilbur for his efforts in getting members of Menominee code talkers honored for the first time.
“It was quite challenging research and he did not stop working,” said Boivin, who indicated personnel information of the five honorees is not precise due to secrecy and incomplete records.
The code talkers originated in World War I with the Apache tribe. In addition to the tribes honored in November, eight other tribes will receive their medals at a later date. Navajo code talkers were honored nearly a decade ago.
Legislation authorizing creation of the medals passed in 2008. The bill credited code talkers with saving countless lives by their ability to transmit secret battlefield messages in seconds, compared to a coding machine, which would have taken at least 30 minutes to send the same messages.
Enemy forces never broke the code.
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