Nearly $20 million in state funding has been committed to construction and exhibit development for the Navajo Code Talker Museum, which will be built on Navajo Nation land at the Navajo Preparatory School campus in Farmington.
Source: New Mexico Indian Affairs Department, Department of the Interior (via Facebook)
Photo: Courtesy National Archives
As the nation marks Navajo Code Talkers Day, New Mexico is moving forward with plans for a museum dedicated to preserving the language, service and legacy of the Navajo Marines whose code played an important role during World War II.
Nearly $20 million in state funding has been committed to construction and exhibit development for the Navajo Code Talker Museum, which will be built on Navajo Nation land at the Navajo Preparatory School campus in Farmington.
The announcement comes as the U.S. Department of the Interior commemorates the Navajo Code Talkers and their contributions during the war.
A Language That Became a Military Advantage
The program began with 29 Navajo recruits in 1942 who developed a military code based on the Navajo language.
As hundreds more Navajo Marines joined the effort, Code Talkers served throughout major Marine campaigns in the Pacific, transmitting thousands of battlefield messages quickly and securely.
According to the Department of the Interior, Japanese forces never broke the code.
Their work remained classified for years following the war, leaving many of the Marines unable to publicly discuss what they had accomplished after returning home.
Today, their service is recognized as an important part of both Navajo and American military history.
Building a Place to Preserve the Story
The planned museum will focus on the language and legacy of the Navajo Code Talkers.
In May, the Navajo Preparatory School Governing Board of Trustees unanimously approved an agreement with the state to build and operate the museum. Navajo Preparatory School will manage the facility.
State partners include the New Mexico Indian Affairs Department, General Services Department, Department of Cultural Affairs, Higher Education Department and Department of Finance and Administration.
“The partnership marks a milestone in what will become a significant tribally led cultural project to honor Navajo Code Talkers,” Navajo Preparatory School Head of School Shawna Allison Becenti said. “Their legacy deserves to be honored in a place that is rooted in Diné culture, led by our community.”
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham also emphasized the urgency of preserving that history while two Navajo Code Talkers remain living.
“The United States owes the Navajo Code Talkers a tremendous debt — for their language, their courage and their heroic service to our state and nation,” Lujan Grisham said.
For Navajo Code Talkers Day, the museum project provides something beyond remembrance: a permanent place intended to carry that history forward.
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