Carl Nelson Gorman
Carl Nelson Gorman, also known as Kin-Ya-Onny-Beyeh (1907–1998) was a Navajo code talker, visual artist, painter, illustrator, and professor. He was faculty at the University of California, Davis, from 1950 until 1973. During World War II, Gorman served as a code talker with the United States Marine Corps in the Pacific.

Early life and education 

Carl Nelson Gorman was born on October 5, 1907 in Chinle, Arizona. Chinle, is located on the rim of the Canyon de Chelly National Monument. He was a member of 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 found the First Presbyterian Mission in Chinle.

He attended the Rehoboth Mission School in Rehoboth, New Mexico; an American Indian boarding school where was punished for speaking the Navajo language.

Career 
In 1942 during the mid-point of World War II, Gorman was one of the 29 Navajo people recruited by the United States Marine Corp to serve as code talkers in their native Navajo language. Gorman was ranked as a Private First Class. He spend much of his service time on the front lines in the Pacific and in Saipan. The Navajo code was formally developed and modeled on the Joint Army/Navy Phonetic Alphabet that uses agreed-upon English words to represent letters or other meanings. The Japanese were never able to crack the Navajo-based encryption.

After the war, Gorman studied art at the Otis Art Institute (now Otis College of Art and Design), on the G.I. Bill. In 1949, Gorman was worked as an illustrator in Los Angeles, including technical illustration work for Douglas Aircraft Company.

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, and David Risling, Jr.  joined the faculty in 1970, and George Longfish 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) and University of New Mexico-Gallup.

Death, honors, and legacy 
Gorman died from cancer on January 29, 1998 in Gallup, New Mexico. 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 University of New Mexico.

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

Art collections
His artwork is included in the permanent museum collections of the C.N. Gorman Museum, the Brooklyn Museum, and the National Museum of the American Indian.

References

Further reading

External links 

 Official website

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 Americans