War’s Cree code talkers sworn to secrecy
In war, anything can be seen as a weapon, including language.
For Charles “Checker” Tomkins, a Cree soldier fighting in the Second World War, his language was just that — a weapon that the enemy could never destroy unless they killed him.
Tomkins, from Alberta, was a code talker — a practice of using obscure languages to transmit coded messages during wartime. Messages were translated to Cree and other native languages so they could not be read if they were intercepted by the enemy. When the messages were delivered to their intended recipient, other Crees would translate the words back into English for military officials. The Cree language was chosen because of its accuracy in translation.
The code talkers were sworn to secrecy, so Tomkins never talked about it. The program was declassified in 1963 with little government fanfare and most of the code talkers took their secret with them to the grave — their contributions never honoured, never recognized.
Alexandra Lazarowich, Tomkins’s niece and a documentary film producer, hopes to change that. She’s working with director Cowboy Smithx to create a 10-minute documentary that explores the power of language, focusing mostly on Tomkins and a few other code talkers, all of whom have died.
“I think it’s important to highlight the Cree language and the role it played in winning the war,” said Lazarowich. “I’m Cree myself and I think that (the documentary), will be a great way to inspire youth to learn more about their heritage and language, and be proud of it.”
It’s ironic that these men were forced to go to residential schools where they were not permitted to speak their language, she said, yet when war broke out that language played a crucial role in defeating the enemy.
“It is inspiring to our community that our language was used as a weapon and that these men fought for our freedom,” she said. “It is time that we honour these aboriginal veterans; too many of them were overlooked.”
Lazarowich was approached by Tomkins’s brothers to make the documentary.
It wasn’t until 1992 that he first talked about his experience with his brother, Jimmy Tomkins, after they had watched the Hollywood film Windtalkers, about Navajo code talkers enlisted by the American military for the war in the Pacific.
“I had no idea that he had been involved with code talking,” Jimmy said. “After we saw that movie and he started talking about it, that was the first time that I had ever heard anything about it.”
Charles joined the military to escape the crushing realities of the Great Depression, but he also wanted to serve his country. He loved Canada and was proud to fight as a Canadian citizen, his brother said.
“I hope they get some recognition out of this (documentary),” he said. “They deserve it. They were never really in too much danger, they were mainly in bunkers, but they still deserve to have their contributions recognized.”
Tomkins did receive a letter of recognition — not specifically about his code work — from Veterans Affairs in 2002, shortly before he died. He also received six medals for his service during the Second World War.
The documentary is being funded by the National Screen Institute of Canada as part of the Aboriginal Documentary Training Course.
The documentary will be broadcast on Bravo and APTN.