Carl Nelson Gorman (October 5, 1907 – January 29, 1998), also known as Kin-Ya-Onny-Beyeh, was a Navajo

code talker A code talker was a person employed by the military during wartime to use a little-known language as a means of secret communication. The term is most often used for United States service members during the World Wars who used their knowledge ...

, visual artist, painter, illustrator, and professor. He was on the faculty at the

University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Davis, California, United States. It is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University ...

, from 1950 until 1973. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Gorman served as a code talker with the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

in the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

Early life and education

Carl Nelson Gorman was born on October 5, 1907, in

Chinle, Arizona Chinle () is a census-designated place (CDP) in Apache County, Arizona, United States. The name in Navajo means and is a reference to the location where the water flows out of the Canyon de Chelly. The population was 4,518 at the 2010 United Sta ...

. Chinle is located on the rim of the

Canyon de Chelly National Monument Canyon de Chelly National Monument ( ) was established on April 1, 1931, as a unit of the National Park Service. Located in northeastern Arizona, it is within the boundaries of the Navajo Nation and lies in the Four Corners region. Reflecting o ...

. He was a member of the ''Dibeh Łizhin'' clan (the Black Sheep Clan) and born for the ''Khinyá' áni'' clan (the Towering House People). His father was a cattleman and " Indian trader". When he was a child, his mother Alice, who was a traditional weaver, supported his earliest artistic pursuits. His mother also worked to translate hymns from English into Navajo. His parents gave a portion of their land to found the First Presbyterian Mission in Chinle. Gorman's western education began at the Rehoboth Mission School in

Rehoboth, New Mexico Rehoboth is an unincorporated community in McKinley County, New Mexico, United States. Rehoboth is located along Interstate 40, east of downtown Gallup. Rehoboth has a post office with ZIP code 87322. It has a population of 56 permanent residen ...

; an

American Indian boarding school American Indian boarding schools, also known more recently as American Indian residential schools, were established in the United States from the mid-17th to the early 20th centuries with a main primary objective of "civilizing" or assimilat ...

where he was punished for speaking the Navajo language. His father removed him from the school and enrolled him in the

Albuquerque Indian School Albuquerque Indian School (AIS) was a American Indian boarding schools, Native American boarding school in Albuquerque, New Mexico, which operated from 1881 to 1981. It was one of the oldest and largest off-reservation boarding schools in the Uni ...

Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque ( ; ), also known as ABQ, Burque, the Duke City, and in the past 'the Q', is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Bernalillo County, New Mexico, Bernal ...

where he excelled at sports including boxing and football.

Career

In April 1942, Gorman was one of 29 Navajo men recruited by the United States Marine Corps to create a code based on the

Navajo language Navajo or Navaho ( ; Navajo: or ) is a Southern Athabaskan languages, Southern Athabaskan language of the Na-Dene languages, Na-Dené family, through which it is related to languages spoken across the western areas of North America. Navajo i ...

. The Navajo code talkers fought and deployed the code in every campaign from

Guadalcanal Guadalcanal (; indigenous name: ''Isatabu'') is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, northeast of Australia. It is the largest island in the Solomons by area and the second- ...

through the

Occupation of Japan Japan was occupied and administered by the Allies of World War II from the surrender of the Empire of Japan on September 2, 1945, at the war's end until the Treaty of San Francisco took effect on April 28, 1952. The occupation, led by the ...

. Gorman served in four campaigns: Guadalcanal,

Saipan Saipan () is the largest island and capital of the Northern Mariana Islands, an unincorporated Territories of the United States, territory of the United States in the western Pacific Ocean. According to 2020 estimates by the United States Cens ...

Tinian Tinian () is one of the three principal islands of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). Together with uninhabited neighboring Aguiguan, it forms Tinian Municipality, one of the four constituent municipalities of the Northern ...

, and

Tarawa Tarawa is an atoll and the capital of the Republic of Kiribati,Kiribati
''

The Navajo code was formally developed and modeled on the

Joint Army/Navy Phonetic Alphabet The Allied military phonetic spelling alphabets prescribed the words that are used to represent each letter of the alphabet, when spelling other words out loud, letter-by-letter, and how the spelling words should be pronounced for use by the All ...

that uses agreed-upon English words to represent letters or other meanings. The Japanese were never able to crack the Navajo-based encryption. In 1945, Gorman was honorably discharged as Private First Class. After the war, Gorman studied art at the Otis Art Institute (now

Otis College of Art and Design Otis College of Art and Design is a private art and design school in Los Angeles, California, United States. Established in 1918, it was the city's first independent professional school of art. The main campus is located in the former IBM Aero ...

), on the

G.I. Bill The G.I. Bill, formally the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, was a law that provided a range of benefits for some of the returning World War II veterans (commonly referred to as G.I. (military), G.I.s). The original G.I. Bill expired in ...

. In 1949, Gorman was working as an illustrator in Los Angeles, including

technical illustration Technical illustration is illustration meant to visually communicate information of a technical nature. Technical illustrations can be components of technical drawings or diagrams. Technical illustrations in general aim "to generate expressive ...

work for

Douglas Aircraft Company The Douglas Aircraft Company was an American aerospace manufacturer, aerospace and military, defense company based in Southern California. Founded in 1921 by Donald Wills Douglas Sr., it merged with McDonnell Aircraft in 1967 to form McDonnell D ...

. In 1950, he joined the faculty at UC Davis, where he remained until 1973. Gorman helped in the formation of the Native American Studies Department, as well as in the creation of a Native American art studio workshop. In 1969, the Native American Studies Department at UC Davis was formed under the name ''Tehcumseh Center'', Gorman was one of the first faculty working alongside

Jack D. Forbes Jack Douglas Forbes (January 7, 1934 – February 23, 2011) was an American historian, writer, scholar, and political activist, who specialized in Native Americans of the United States, Native American issues. He is best known for his role in esta ...

, and

David Risling David Risling Jr. (April 10, 1921 in Morek, Humboldt County, California – March 13, 2005 in Davis, California) was a Native American ( Hoopa) educator and rights activist who was often referred to as "The Father of Indian Education". Life and a ...

, Jr. joined the faculty in 1970, and

George Longfish George Chester Longfish (born August 22, 1942) is a First Nations in Canada, First Nations artist, professor, and museum director. His art work blends Pop art with Indigenous motifs, and often features Assemblage (art), assemblage. Many of his wor ...

joined in 1973. Gorman used traditional Navajo motifs in his visual art practice. Around 1973, Gorman and his wife Mary moved to Gallup, New Mexico where he worked on many community-based projects; including directing the Navajo Arts and Crafts Guild, he founded the Navajo Code Talkers Association, worked on an oral history project with Navajo elders, and taught classes at both Navajo Community College (now

Diné College Diné College is a public tribal land-grant college based in Tsaile, Arizona, serving the Navajo Nation. It offers associate degrees, bachelor's degrees, academic certificates, and one master's degree. History Diné College opened in 196 ...

) and University of New Mexico-Gallup.

Significant dates in art career

* 1964 - Carl and his son R.C. Gorman are invited to do a two-person show, ''"New Directions in American Indian Art"'', at the Philbrook Art Center in Tulsa, OK. * 1965 - Carl and R.C. exhibit together at the

Heard Museum The Heard Museum is a private, not-for-profit museum in Phoenix, Arizona, United States, dedicated to the advancement of American Indian art. It presents the stories of American Indian people from a first-person perspective, as well as exhibitio ...

's Gallery of Indian Art in Phoenix, Arizona. John Becklaw, rights a review in the Arizona Republic under the headline: "Gormans-Father and Son Rebels in Indian Art" * 1968 - Carl loans his son, R.C. Gorman some money to purchase the Manchester Gallery in Taos, NM. R.C. renames it the Navajo Gallery. It is the first Native American owned fine art gallery. * 1990 - Gorman was awarded a doctor of humane letters from

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; ) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1889 by the New Mexico Territorial Legislature, it is the state's second oldest university, a flagship university in th ...

. * 2020 - Carl's work is featured in the ''Smithsonian Magazine's'' November issue under the heading "''The Remarkable and Complex Legacy of Native American Military Service''".

Significant dates in military career

* 1941 - May 4. Carl and 28 other Navajos are sworn into the Marine Corps. They are transported by bus to MCRD San Diego and designated Platoon 382 - the first "''all Indian, all Navajo''" Platoon in Marine Corps history. * 1944 - PFC Gorman is photographed while serving on Saipan. He and a fellow code talker are injured while on litter duty when a mortar shell explodes near them. * 1945 - PFC Gorman is Honorably discharged from the Marine Corps out of a Marine base in Oregon. Awards and Decorations include: Marine Good Conduct Medal,

American Campaign Medal The American Campaign Medal was a military award of the United States Armed Forces which was first created on November 6, 1942, by issued by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The medal was intended to recognize those military members who had per ...

Asiatic–Pacific Campaign Medal The Asiatic–Pacific Campaign Medal was a United States military award of the Second World War, which was awarded to any member of the United States Armed Forces who served in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater from 1941 to 1945. The medal was create ...

World War II Victory Medal The World War II Victory Medal was a service medal of the United States military which was established by an Act of Congress on 6 July 1945 (Public Law 135, 79th Congress) and promulgated by Section V, War Department Bulletin 12, 1945. Histo ...

, Marksman Badge with Sharpshooter tab * 1968 - The Navajo Code is declassified. * 1973 - Carl Gorman is elected president of the Navajo Code Talkers' Association * 2000 - Senator Jeff Bingaman sponsors the Honoring Navajo Code Talkers Act * 2001 - Carl's widow, Mary E. Gorman (Wilson) accepts a Congressional Medal from Pres. George W. Bush on behalf of Carl.

Death, honors, and legacy

Gorman died from cancer on January 29, 1998, in

Gallup, New Mexico Gallup is a city in McKinley County, New Mexico, United States, with a population of 21,899 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. A substantial percentage of its population is Native Americans in the United States, Native American, wi ...

. His son R.C. Gorman (1931–2005) was a renowned Navajo artist. His daughter Zonnie Gorman is a noted historian of Navajo Code Talkers. His son Alfred Kee Gorman (1957–1966) also was an artist, but he died at an early age. In 1990, Gorman was awarded a doctor of humane letters from the

. Shortly after his retirement in 1973, UC Davis named their new museum, the ''C.N. Gorman Museum'' in his honor, and Gorman donated to the collection. In 1995,

Northern Arizona University Northern Arizona University (NAU) is a public research university based in Flagstaff, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1899, it was the third and final university established in the Arizona Territory. It is one of the three universities gove ...

unveiled a code talker monument, a bust of Gorman sculpted by his son, R.C. Gorman.

Museum collections and exhibitions

His artwork is included in the permanent museum collections of the C.N. Gorman Museum, the

Brooklyn Museum The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 500,000 objects. Located near the Prospect Heig ...

, and the

National Museum of the American Indian The National Museum of the American Indian is a museum in the United States devoted to the culture of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas. It is part of the Smithsonian Institution group of museums and research centers. The museum has three ...

. In addition to the many public and private collections of Gorman's work, the Gorman Family has an extensive collection of his artworks, notes, and other ephemera. The Michael Gorman Gallery in

Taos, New Mexico Taos () is a town in Taos County, New Mexico, Taos County, in the north-central region of New Mexico in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Initially founded in 1615, it was intermittently occupied until its formal establishment in 1795 by Santa Fe ...

, regularly includes rare artwork by the late Carl N. Gorman.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gorman, Carl Nelson 1907 births 1998 deaths Navajo artists Navajo code talkers University of California, Davis faculty Navajo painters Otis College of Art and Design alumni University of New Mexico people People from Chinle, Arizona People from Gallup, New Mexico United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II 20th-century Native American artists Navajo born for the Towering House Clan