ADAHOONILIGII, Window Rock, Arizona, Feb. 1, 1944  

* World War II era Navajo Indians
* "Windtalkers" Navajo Code Talkers
* Extremely rare WWII publication 

This is the volume 1, number 7 issue.
This was a Navajo-language monthly newspaper published in the Southwestern United States from 1943 to 1957. After the "Cherokee Phoenix", operating from 1828 to 1834, it was the second regularly circulating newspaper in the United States that was written in a Native American language. It was the first newspaper to be published in Navajo and the only one to have been written entirely in Navajo (although a few items in the masthead are in English).
This issue brings to mind the 2002 movie "Windtalkers" which focused on Navajo-speaking Native Americans who were used to send secret messages in both World War I and II. Although Navajo speakers are more commonly known, there were 14 other Native American languages used during wartime as well.
This is a very rare issue and the only issue we have located in our 50+ years.
Complete as a broadside newspaper, printed on one side only, and of folio size. Very nice condition.

Background: This specific February 1, 1944 issue of Ádahooníłígíí stands as a monumental artifact of Native American literacy and home-front World War II history, capturing a pivotal moment when the written Navajo language (Diné Bizaad) was weaponized for global democracy while simultaneously being preserved for future generations. Published in Window Rock, Arizona, during the height of the global conflict, this exceedingly rare broadside represents only the second regularly circulating Native American language newspaper in U.S. history and the first ever in Navajo. Its publication coincides exactly with the heroic deployment of the Navajo Code Talkers in the Pacific Theater, drawing a profound historical parallel: while elite soldiers were utilizing a highly guarded, unwritten spoken code to baffle Japanese cryptographers, Ádahooníłígíí was deploying a newly standardized, written orthography back home to keep the Navajo Nation informed of wartime mandates, draft updates, and global news. By rendering complex modern events entirely in a newly typed indigenous alphabet, this single-sheet folio proved the adaptability of the Navajo language under extreme geopolitical pressure, bridging the gap between traditional oral culture and modern journalism while asserting Navajo sovereignty and civic participation during one of the most critical eras in human history.