NASA and the Navajo
In January 1965, while NASA was preparing for the Apollo
project, astronaut field training was being performed on a barren stretch
of a Navajo-Zuni Indian reservation in Arizona. The desolation there
was presumed similar to the lunar terrain.
One day, a Navajo elder and his son, who were herding sheep in the vicinity, came upon the space crew-in-training. The old man, who only spoke Navajo, asked a question, which his son translated. "What are those men in the big suits doing?" A member of the crew said they were practicing for their trip to the moon. At this, the old man became very animated, and through
his son asked if he could send a message to the Moon with the astronauts.
Recognizing a great promotional opportunity for the Agency, the
NASA folks produced a tape recorder. After the old man recorded his message,
the astronauts asked the son to translate. To this, the younger man
politely refused.
This certainly raised the suspicions of the government
people, so one of the local NASA program subdirectors was tasked with
uncovering this mystery. He brought the tape to a village on the reservation,
where the tribe's local council was in session. The council listened to
the recording, and in unison they all laughed or smiled; but they also
would not translate the elder's message.
Finally, NASA contacted an official government translator,
who, after hearing the message, smiled and revealed that the Moon
message said, "Watch out for these people; they have come to steal your land."
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