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By Karen Francis
Window Rock, Arizona (AP) 1-08
When the Navajo Code Talkers served in World War II, using the Navajo language to baffle the Japanese and helping to win the war, they had no idea that decades later a Japanese man would make their story known to the world.
Kenji Kawano, who now lives on the Navajo Nation, has been photographing the Navajo Code Talkers for more than 30 years.
An honorary Code Talker since 1987, Kawano was featured on Navajo artist Sheldon Harvey’s “Tribute to the Navajo Code Talkers and Kenji Kawano” on display alongside a traveling exhibit.
Despite the fact that the Code Talkers were the former enemies of his
country, Kawano befriended and formed a strong bond with them through
listening to their stories and photographing them. The result was
“Warriors: Navajo Code Talkers,” a book published in 1990.
“Everything happened before I was born,” he said about World War II. “I
think since I came to Navajo land, I learned so many things. I didn’t
know about Navajo people, how they live, how their government works.
Then I found out about the Code Talkers. I thought this story has to be
told.”
Kawano’s desire to become a photographer started when he graduated high
school and went to work for a company in his native Japan as a graphic
designer.
The company also had photographers on staff and Kawano became
interested in their work. He bought a camera and began taking pictures.
At the time, it was typical for many Japanese photographers to travel
overseas to establish a portfolio. He headed to Los Angeles.
Kawano arrived in America in 1973 and began taking pictures in downtown Los Angeles and Hollywood.
“I really didn’t enjoy taking pictures in LA,” he said.
One day the owner of an antique shop on Hollywood Boulevard asked him if he knew about the Navajos.
“When he told me about Navajos, I thought maybe that’s a good idea, to
take pictures of Native Americans – how they live today,” he said.
Enthusiastic about the prospect, Kawano rode a bus to Flagstaff, Ariz. When he arrived, it was snowing, much to his surprise.
“In Japan people say Arizona is a warm state,” he said laughing.
Kawano went to the local museum and told the curator about his plan to photograph Navajo people.
“I don’t know how I explained because I didn’t speak English,” he said.
One of the workers knew a Navajo family in Fort Defiance and helped Kawano to make arrangements to stay with them.
“I tried to take pictures but again, I couldn’t communicate with
people, especially in the 1970s. More Navajos spoke Navajo,” he said.
Kawano was able to begin photographing Navajo children because they were curious about what he was doing.
Two months after arriving in Fort Defiance, he took a job as a gas station attendant in Ganado.
“So many times when a driver comes, they think I’m Navajo. They start
talking to me in Navajo,” Kawano said with a laugh. “I had a great
time.”
It was during his time working at that gas station that he began learning Navajo and English.
His parents wrote him to ask when he would be home; he had said he would be back in three months.
“I said, ‘Please wait a little longer, I haven’t accomplished anything yet,”’ he said.
It wasn’t until the summer of 1975 that Kawano first met Code Talker
Carl Gorman while he was hitchhiking. That day the two went to a squaw
dance before Gorman took him back to Ganado. During the time spent
together, Gorman told Kawano about the Navajo Code Talkers. Kawano
found his subject.
“I wanted to know more about what they did,” he said.
He decided to begin documenting the Code Talkers with the hope of one day having a museum exhibit.
In September 1975, Kawano took his first photos of the Code Talkers, one of which is on display at the Navajo Nation Museum.
In the years that followed, he married his wife Ruth, became the
official photographer for the Navajo Nation and later worked as a
photographer for the Navajo Times.
When turmoil in the tribe shut down the newspaper in 1987, Kawano
decided to take the time to work on a book about the Code Talkers.
Kawano spent countless hours driving around the vast Navajo reservation trying to find the Code Talkers.
Once he did, he spent hours listening to their stories.
“Overall, I really enjoy the Code Talkers, visiting home to home
listening to their experiences,” he said. “Sometimes family members,
they don’t ask their grandfathers about it.”
Kawano found that most of the Code Talkers were willing to share their stories and vividly remembered the war.
“I really want American people to know about the Code Talkers. Four
hundred young men went to the Marines and used their language,” he
said. “I as a photographer use my tool – a camera – to document and to
tell their stories.”
Kawano now is a well-known figure on the Navajo Nation and has exhibited his work in Japan more than 50 times.
“So many good things happened because I published ‘Warriors,’ and I just cannot believe it,” he said.
Kawano, who said he now considers the Navajo Nation home, had to buck tradition to leave Japan and live among the Navajo people.
“If you do what you love to do, you can accomplish what you want to do,” he said.
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