This week, Unhinged History honors the achievements of native Americans and their history.

We hear a lot about the Navajo codetalkers of WWII, but how much do you know about the Choctaw codetalkers of WWI that inspired the Second World War version? If you’re like most of the world, you don’t know much. This week, Theresa takes Angie on a romp through history as she shares the origins of the United States using the languages of indigenous peoples to communicate effectively without their messages getting intercepted.

Angie scares Theresa when she also tells a story about the Choctaw. Instead of talking about WWI, Angie zips back to the mid-1800s to share about the first Choctaw lawyer and the first Native American to be admitted to the bar in the United States. James Lawrence McDonald was educated by the government, then used his education to serve his people and help them when the nation didn’t honor its side of the treaties.

These stories pair well with:

Francis Pegahmagabow

Anandi Joshi