Last Lakota code talker Clarence Wolf Guts dies at 86

[kpete]

Last Lakota code talker Clarence Wolf Guts dies at 86



Holly Meyer Journal staff | Posted: Friday, June 18, 2010


When the towers of the World Trade Center fell on Sept. 11, 2001, Clarence Wolf Guts asked his son to call the U.S. Department of Defense to see if the country needed his code talking abilities to find Osama Bin Laden.

Wolf Guts was in his late 70s at the time, so his son, Don Doyle, did not make the call, but said the request personified his father's love of country.

"He still wanted to help. He was trying to still be patriotic," Doyle said.

Wolf Guts, 86, the last surviving Oglala Lakota code talker, died Wednesday afternoon at the South Dakota State Veterans Home in Hot Springs.

more:
http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/news/article_9668c6fe-7a8a-11df-ab6b-001cc4c002e0.html

[blue neen]

1. Rest in peace, Clarence Wolf Guts.

We owe you so much...

[niyad]

2. may the Great Spirit hold you close, Clarence. we honour you.

[KonaKane]

3. I wasnt even aware they had Lakota code talkers.

RIP, Clarence Wolf Guts.

[bobbolink]

16. I thought all the Code Talkers were Dine', because of the intricate language.

Color me puzzled.

edited to post what Wikipedia says:

"The name code talkers is strongly associated with bilingual Navajo speakers specially recruited during World War II by the Marines to serve in their standard communications units in the Pacific Theater. Code talking, however, was pioneered by Choctaw Indians serving in the U.S. Army during World War I. These soldiers are referred to as Choctaw Code Talkers.

Other Native American code talkers were used by the United States Army during World War II, using Cherokee, Choctaw and Comanche soldiers. Soldiers of Basque ancestry were used for code talking by the US Marines during World War II in areas where other Basque speakers were not expected to be operating."

No mention of Lakota....

[KonaKane]

24. So did I. I took Dine' Bizaad (Navajo) in college and it is a very tough language

especially because it is tonal, has a whole set of sounds alien to English speakers, and operates on a different grammatical framework than most other languages. It made complete sense to use it as a code language.

[Chulanowa]

4. Doksa ake waunkte, Clarence

[Oregone]

5. I was always perplexed at their willingness to fight for the US

Its something I never got.

[Sal Minella]

8. I think it's like a couple of sparring brothers suddenly defending each other

when threatened by someone from the outside.

Lakota have a warrior culture, and they would be more than willing to fight an enemy of the country they're living in ("home," however hostile).

During the grand march at a powwow, the American flag is at the head of the procession, and the veterans have bits of uniform incorporated into their traditional-dancer dress. This startled me at first, but then I realized the costumes for their dances are made of materials around them which have been important in their lives. Now I see camouflage and unit patches as normal parts of men's traditional dance costumes.

[Oregone]

12. My perplexed thoughts originated while watching all that at a powwow

:)

Sparring brothers seems like a generous term, considering the genocide that took place against those people (IMO).

[apocalypsehow]

10. Why?

:shrug:

A very curious post.

[Chulanowa]

15. Same reason there are still patriotic Jewish people in Germany

The past is horrible and painful and, quite frankly unforgivable. But you can't live your life brooding about it. You live with what you've got, and while you can always strive for something better, you're never going to recapture the past.

[Odin2005]

27. I've always thought that the major large reservations should be promoted to statehood.

[Ikonoklast]

6. Thank you for your service, Clarence Wolf Guts

Another human piece of our nation's history passes.

[Stinky The Clown]

7. I salute you and thank you for your service, Clarence Wolf Guts.

Please know that I admire you greatly, sir.

[neverforget]

9. Rest in Peace, Clarence Wolf Guts. Thank you for your service.

[michreject]

11. Rest in peace. You do honor to your fathers.

It's refreshing to hear of someone who loves their country, faults and all. We own you a debt that can never be repaid.

[Odin2005]

13. Rest in Peace, warrior!

:patriot:

[myrna minx]

14. RIP. K&R n/t

[AnnieBW]

17. May Wakan Tanka Bless You, Sir.

You are a true patriot.

:patriot:

[senseandsensibility]

18. k and r

RIP

[Aristus]

19. Good night, sir. Thank you for everything.

:patriot:

[johnaries]

20. Thank you for your service, and please enjoy a well-deserved

peaceful rest.

:patriot:

[Dinger]

21. Aniishiik Clarence. Rest In Peace

Mohican for "Thank You."

[Dinger]

22. Kicking This Because It Should Be At The Top Of The Greatest Page,

out of respect for this Native American Man.

[bobbolink]

29. Absolutely correct. We had much to learn from him.

:patriot:

[applegrove]

23. RIP.

[Scurrilous]

25. K & R

:thumbsup:

[Raster]

26. Rest in peace.

:kick:

[Veruca Salt]

28. k&r

:patriot:

[senseandsensibility]

30. kicked

for those that haven't seen this yet.

[tilsammans]

31. Theirs was an incredible story

Thank you, Clarence Wolf Guts. :patriot:

[stevedeshazer]

32. Rest in peace, old man.

I makes me sad to see these languages and customs go away. Imagine the knowledge of such an elder person. I'm glad Clarence Wolf Guts came to be.