The Syko Ward

When NASA was preparing for the Apollo Project, it took the astronauts to a Navajo reservation in the Arizona desert for training.

One day a Navajo elder and his son came across the space crew walking among the rocks. The elder, who spoke only Navajo, asked a question which his son translated for the NASA people: “What are these guys in the big suits doing?”

One of the astronauts replied that they were practicing for a trip to the moon. When his son relayed that information to the old Navajo, he got very excited and asked if it would be possible for the astronauts to deliver a message from him to the moon.

Recognizing a promotional opportunity when he saw one, a NASA official who had been accompanying the astronauts said he would be delighted to do so and told one of his underlings to fetch a tape recorder. The recorder was set up and the microphone was handed to the old man. After his comment, which was surprising short, the NASA official asked the son for a translation of what his father had said. The son listened carefully to the recording, then laughed uproariously but declined to translate. Irritated, the NASA people took the tape to a nearby village and played it for other members of the tribe. They, too, laughed loud and long but also refused to offer a translation.

Finally, an official government translator was summoned to listen to the elder’s recorded words. After he, too, had a good laugh, he finally shared the old man’s words: “Watch out for these assholes. They have come to steal your land.”