The Native Americans on a remote reservation in Wyoming asked their new chief, Akecheta, whether the winter ahead was going to be mild or cold.
Now Chief Akecheta was a modern man, educated in a university, but he hadn’t been taught the old ways and the wisdom of his ancestors.
He looked into the sky, but he was unable to read the signs as to whether the winter would be cold or not.
Naturally, he didn’t want to lose credibility with the tribe so, to save face and be on the safe side, he just told them that the winter was going to be cold and that they should probably start gathering firewood to be prepared.
Now he may not have learned the ancient secrets, but Chief Akecheta was a wise and practical man. So, once he was on his own, he phoned the National Weather Service and asked them for their winter forecast.
“Well sir,” said the meteorologist, “our forecast suggests that it’s going to be quite cold.”
Feeling more confident now, Chief Akecheta went back to his people and told them to collect even more firewood to be prepared.
A week later, he called the National Weather Service again.
“Does it still look like it is going to be very cold this winter?” he asked the meteorologist.
“Yes sir,” said the meteorologist. “It could be even colder than we first thought.”
So once again, Chief Akecheta went back to his people, and he ordered them to collect every scrap of firewood they could find.
Two weeks later, Chief Akecheta phoned the National Weather Service again.
“Are you absolutely sure that the winter is going to be very cold?” he asked the meteorologist.
“Yes sir,” said the meteorologist. “The signs are that it’s going to be one of the coldest winters we’ve ever seen.”
“How can you be so sure?” asked Chief Akecheta.
“Well sir,” the meteorologist responded, “the Native American tribe up the road has been collecting a crazy amount of firewood recently.“