One Day On The Reservation

[cdnvic]

When NASA was preparing for the Apollo project, they did

some 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 refused.

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."