In Arnhem land Aboriginal tribes look to their elders to determine if it is going to be a harsh cold winter or a mild one and thus if there is a need to gather a lot of fire wood or not.
last autum the tribal elder died leaving Murengaba the new oldest man in the village. Now the elders had never taught Murengaba how to determine if it was to be a cold winter or not but the rest of the village was looking to Murengaba to determine if they should start gathering fire wood early or not this year. Not wanting to admit he didn't know and wanting to cover his butt, Murengaba said yes it will be a cold winter and they should begin to gather some wood.
After a week of wood gathering the tribe again asked Murengaba if this was enough wood? Murengaba had a great idea, he rang the Bureau of Meterology in the NT and asked them if it would be cold winter this year the BOM said indeed it did look like being quiet a cold winter. So Murengaba returned to the tribe and said no thiis is not enough wood it looks like being quiet a cold winter this year gather more wood.
So after another week of gathering wood, again the tribe went to Murengaba and he said I will have to consult with the "spirts" and snuck off and phoned the BOM. The officials at the BoM said it looks like being the coldest winter for a few year! So Murengaba returned to his tribe and said gather more wood it looks like being a very cold winter this year so his tribe gathered more wood.
Another week of wood gathering goes by and again the tribe comes to Murengaba and off Murengaba goes to speak with the "spirits" at the BOM. this time the man at the BOM say its shapeing up to be the coldest winter we have on record!!! Core think Murengaba so he askes the guy at the BOM 'how can you be so sure that this will be such a harsh winter'
'well the local aboriginals have been gathering fire wood like crazy and thats always a sure sign ' come the reply