Watch "Chester Nez - Living History" by Navajo Oral History Project (19 minutes) This documentary film was researched, photographed, edited and produced by students of
Winona State University (Winona, Minnesota) and
Diné College (Tsaile, Arizona, Navajo Nation) during summer 2012. It contains stories told by Chester Nez of Chichiltah, New Mexico, to the students during several hours of interviews about his life.
Chester who passed away June 4th, 2014, was the last surviving member of The Original 29 Navajo Code Talkers who were recruited in 1942 to create a code using the Navajo language for use in the battlefield so the South Pacific. Chester and the rest of The Original 29 then took the code they created into battle. (
Vimeo viewing Link)
This documentary film is archived at the
Navajo Nation Museum,
Navajo Nation Library,
Winona State University Library, and
Diné College Library, and at the
Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of the American Indian. The film is part of the
Navajo Oral History project, a multi-year collaboration between the Winona State University Mass Communication Department and Diné College, the official Tribal College of
the Navajo Nation.
