The Oneida Code Talkers: They change their words

They protected the military code with their lives and most took the secret of the code to their graves and never spoke of their role in the war.”

Tehassi Hill, Oneida Nation chairman

ONEIDA – Many may be aware of the Navajo code talkers, due to the early 2000s action film, “Windtalkers.”

The movie’s plot follows U.S . Marine Corporal Joe Enders as he returns from active duty in World War II and is assigned to protect a group of Navajo code talkers.

Code talkers passed along secret or highly-sensitive information on the battlefield via radio transmission using their native language, so the opposition couldn’t understand their transmissions.

The film is a Hollywood version of the use of code talkers by American troops during World War II, but the Navajo service members weren’t the only ones to serve in that role.

Other Nations providing men to fill that role included the Comanche, Kiowa, Creek, Meskwaki, Chippewa, Choctaw, Cherokee, Lakota, Crow, Sioux, Dakota, Ho-Chunk, Hopi, Kiowa, Muscogee, Oglala, Osage, Pawnee, Ponca, Pueblo, Seminole, Apache, Cheyenne, Menominee, Mohawk and the Oneida.

“The Oneida have a long history of volunteering for military service dating back to the Civil War, and Oneida men were designated ‘code-talkers’ in World War I because of their complex language,” a Wisconsin Historical Society essay said.

“The Wisconsin National Guard also used indigenous speakers from tribes in Wisconsin as code talkers before and during World War II. The museum staff are aware of four code talkers from the Oneida Nation, 14 from the Ho-Chunk Nation and five from the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin who served in World War II,” the Wisconsin Veterans Museum stated.

The four Oneida men who served as code talkers included Lloyd M. Schuyler, Rupert S. Adams, Rimton L. Doxtator and Hudson R. Doxtator.

Schuyler served in the Army for 17 years, which included World War II and the Korean Conflict.

He was the son of Samuel and Ester Schuyler and went on to marry Pauline Jourdan and have four children. He passed away in 2004.