Some native Canadians in Manitoba asked their chief in the autumn if the
winter was going to be cold or not. Not really knowing an answer, the chief took a guess and replied that the winter was going to be cold and that the members of the village were to collect wood to be prepared.
Being a good and wise leader, he then went to the nearest phone booth and called Environment Canada and asked, "Is this winter going to be cold?"
The man on the phone responded, "All signs are this winter is going to be quite cold indeed."
So the chief went back to speed up his people to collect even more wood to be prepared. A week later he called Environment Canada again, "Is it going to be a very cold winter?"
"Yes," the man replied. "It's going to be a very cold winter."
So the chief went back to his people and order them to go and find every
scrap of wood they could find.
Two weeks later he called Environment Canada again. "Are you absolutely sure that this winter is going to be very cold?"
"Absolutely, the natives are collecting wood like crazy!"