Cape Fear Community College’s Native American Heritage Month Committee is dedicated to the
continued recognition and preservation of the local, state, and national cultural traditions of Native
American communities. NAHM is honored to host a series of cultural events every November as we pay
tribute to the original peoples of this land.
*Public welcome to bring in an artifact for identification.
Group tours may be arranged by contacting CFCC at
(910) 362-7111
nahm@cfcc.edu
CFCC Welcomes Native American WWII Veteran
CFCC is honored to welcome Navajo Code Talker and Purple Heart recipient, Teddy Draper Sr., to campus on November 11, 2009.
Draper’s mastery of his native language
earned him
a place among a group of about 400 Navajo
who
were pivotal to America’s victory in the Pacific
Draper grew up on a traditional Navajo family farm in Arizona. When he first set foot in a classroom at age 14, he barely knew English and was punished for speaking his native language. Fortunately, he maintained his native dialect as he learned English, because less than a decade later, Draper’s mastery of his native language earned him a place among a group of about 400 Navajo who were pivotal to America’s victory in the Pacific during World War II.
The U.S. Marines turned to the Navajos because they wanted an undecipherable code, and Navajo is an unwritten language of extreme complexity. It has no alphabet or symbols, which baffled Japanese code breakers.
Draper has dedicated his life to the cultural preservation and education of Native Americans. He also travels around the country to speak about the role of the Code Talkers in the victory of WWII.
