Military and Oral History Conference:
Between Memory and History
“Choctaw Code-Talkers of WWI: Knowledge and Perceptions”
Jessica Rae Mozelle Houser, University of California, Berkeley
Because the service of the Choctaw in WWI was classified, very little about their service has been recorded. This is probably one of many reasons why few people know about the Choctaw in WWI. Researching previously classified military history relies heavily on family and oral histories. However, in interviewing family members of the Choctaw in WWI I realized that the Choctaw who served in WWI rarely mentioned their service to their family members. And what they did share was often so little that this information did not get passed down to later generations. Yet, there is evidence that they did discuss their time in the military with each other in the Choctaw language, which few younger family members speak. The lack of language continuity, while allowing the veterans to openly yet privately discuss classified military information, made it difficult for oral history to be passed down. How do we go about researching something that was classified for so many years, and what can we possibly learn from the lack of information on historical subjects such as this.