It's late fall and the Indians on a remote reserve in Alberta asked their
new chief if the coming winter was going to be cold or mild.
Since he was a chief in a modern society, he had never been taught the old
secrets. When he looked at the sky, he couldn't tell what the winter was
going to be like.
Nevertheless, to be on the safe side, he told his tribe that the winter was
indeed going to be cold and that the members of the village should collect
firewood to be prepared.
But, being a practical leader, after several days, he got an idea. He went
to the phone booth, called Environment Canada and asked, 'Is the coming
winter going to be cold?'
'It looks like this winter is going to be quite cold,' the meteorologist at
the weather service responded.
So the chief went back to his people and told them to collect even more
firewood in order to be prepared.
A week later, he called Environment Canada again. 'Does it still look like
it is going to be a very cold winter?'
'Yes,' the man at Environment Canada again replied, 'it's going to be a
very cold winter.'
The chief again went back to his people and ordered them to collect every
scrap of firewood they could find.
Two weeks later, the chief called Environment Canada again. 'Are you
absolutely sure that the winter is going to be very cold?'
'Absolutely,' the man replied. 'It's looking more and more like it is going
to be one of the coldest winters we've ever seen.'
'How can you be so sure?' the chief asked.
The weatherman replied, 'The Indians are collecting a chitload of firewood'