It was late fall and the Indians on a remote reservation in South Dakota 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’d never learned the old tribal secrets.

He couldn’t look at the sky to predict what the winter was going to be like.

"It's going to be a very cold winter."

So just 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 after several days, he had an idea. He went to the reservation’s phone booth, called the National Weather Service and asked, “Will it be cold this winter?”

“Oh, yes,” the meteorologist at the Weather Service replied, “It looks like this winter is going to be quite cold.”

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 the National Weather Service again. “Does it still look like it is going to be a very cold winter?”

“Yes,” the meteorologist again replied, “It’s going to be a very cold.”

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 the National Weather Service again. “Are you sure it’s going to be very cold winter?”

“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.

“Simple,” the weatherman replied, “The Indians are collecting a shitload of firewood.”