Code Talker: Chapter 9 Summary & Analysis

Ned approaches his parents again, explaining that he has done as they asked by waiting a year, but that he is ready to be a warrior now. His parents, though sad, agree to give their permission on one condition. Ned has to go to a singer who will do a ceremony, a “Blessingway,” that will keep him safe when in danger. The singer’s Navajo name is Big Schoolboy, but he is also known as Frank Mitchell. Ned addresses him as Hosteen, a term of respect.

Hosteen Mitchell is a Catholic, like most of Ned’s family by now. (Ned’s four younger siblings have also attended mission school, and his parents have been baptized as Catholics and join the children at church.) But Ned says that “being Catholic did not mean we would forget the Holy People and our Navajo Way.” Hosteen Mitchell is a respected man, and Ned likes his modesty and humor. Hosteen Mitchell calls Ned “ant” because of his small size and great strength, and he tells Ned stories about his own school days.

Hosteen Mitchell conducts the Blessingway the following weekend. Family and friends gather at Ned’s home. He is ceremonially bathed and sung over in the morning and blessed with corn pollen. The ceremony resumes in the evening, and 60 years later, Ned can still feel the beauty of the many songs Hosteen Mitchell sang throughout the night. The following dawn, Ned scatters pollen and inhales the morning, feeling that he is now “in good balance” and ready to become a warrior for America.