When NASA was preparing for the Apollo project, they did some
astronaut training on a Navajo Indian reservation.
One day, a Navajo elder and his son were herding sheep and
came across the space crew. The old man, who spoke only
Navajo, asked a question which his son translated. “What are
these guys in the big suits doing?”
A member of the crew said they were practicing for their trip
to the moon. The old man got all excited and asked if he could
send a message to the moon with the astronauts.
Recognizing a promotional opportunity for the spin-doctors,
the NASA folks found a tape recorder. After the old man
recorded his message, they asked the son to translate it. He
So the NASA reps brought the tape to the reservation where the
rest of the tribe listened and laughed but refused to
translate the elder’s message to the moon.
Finally, the NASA crew called in an official government
translator. He reported that the moon message said, “Watch out
for these guys; they have come to steal your land.”