Tom Udall: “today I wish to pay tribute to Alfred K. Newman, one of last remaining Navajo code talkers, who passed away on January…”

“today I wish to pay tribute to Alfred K. Newman, one of last remaining Navajo code talkers, who passed away on January 13 of this year. Mr. Newman was born in Coolidge, NM, on July 21, 1924. He was Naaneesht'ezhi Dine'e--Zuni Clan--and born for Tsi'naajinii--Black Streak Wood People Clan. One of six children, his mother wove rugs that were sold at the Coolidge Trading Post and his stepfather worked as a silversmith there. When Mr. Newman was about 8 years old, his family sent him to the Rehoboth Mission School, where he boarded during the 9 month school year and rarely saw his parents. During the summers, he herded sheep. At one point, they had a herd of 200, and the young shepherd loved watching the lizards, birds, and bugs that surrounded him as he herded. Mr. Newman grew up knowing both Navajo and English. However, the boarding students were not allowed to speak Navajo at the school. One time, when he spoke in Navajo, in order to help another Navajo student who knew no English, he was punished by having to write ``I must not speak Navajo'' 500 times. While the missionaries at the Rehoboth Mission School forbade Mr. Newman and other Navajo students from speaking their language, as did Federal Government Indian boarding schools, the U.S. military came to greatly appreciate the strategic advantage the unwritten Dine language held. Mr. Newman enlisted in the Marines, in 1943, when he was 18, inspired to defend the Nation in light of the attack on Pearl Harbor.…”