2008 Medal Tlingit Tribe Code Talkers Bronze 38mm

Coin Details

Description

This 38mm bronze medal honors the Tlingit Tribe Code Talkers, members of the Tlingit people of southeastern Alaska who used their language for military communications. The Tlingit language is a Na-Dene language, part of the same broad linguistic family that includes Navajo and Apache, though the Tlingit variety is extremely divergent from its distant southern relatives. The Tlingit people's location in Alaska gave their code talker service a unique geographic context, as the territory of Alaska was itself a theater of combat during World War II when Japanese forces occupied the Aleutian Islands of Attu and Kiska. The obverse features a design incorporating Tlingit cultural elements, reflecting the rich artistic traditions of the Northwest Coast peoples. Tlingit culture is renowned for its elaborate totem poles, formline art, and complex clan-based social structure — all elements that may be reflected in the medal's design. The Tlingit language is noted for its extremely complex phonological system, with an inventory of consonants that is among the largest of any language in the world, making it virtually impenetrable to non-speakers and thus ideally suited for coded military communications. The reverse carries Code Talkers program inscriptions. The Tlingit code talkers represent the northernmost tribal contribution to the program and one of the few from Alaska, extending the geographic scope of the Code Talkers recognition from the Arctic to the Gulf Coast and from the Atlantic seaboard to the Pacific Northwest.

Rarity Notes

Bronze duplicate medal, 38mm. Code Talkers Recognition Act of 2008 series. Only Alaskan tribe in the program.

Cross References

PCGS #910567; Code Talkers 2008; Tlingit Tribe; Na-Dene language family; Alaska