One of the darkest periods in US history was the forcible removal of Indigenous children from their parents and confining them to "re-education" schools where they were shorn of sacred hair and beaten when speaking their natal languages. The historical fact that Navajo Code Talkers helped save allied lives during WWII is a massive up yours to the fools and evil doers insisting the children speak English only ultimately resulting in the loss of a lingual identity for many of the abused children. To say nothing of the physical and sexual abuse many suffered. One wonders, did they have mastery over the words that would have exposed their abusers? If they did, did authority care enough to see them as humans instead of mongrels? Did they put credence in the words of those with the courage to speak up?
