AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION
THE
MISSPELLED SMOKE SIGNALS
Sam Houston
Area Council
LITTLE BEAR: "I'll get
this right!"
DRUMS: (Hit thighs
rhythmically)
SMOKE SIGNALS: "Pooff,
Pooffl"
INDIAN: (War whoop)
MOTHER: "You
can do it!"
LITTLE BEAR was a very hard working INDIAN boy. He
studied hard to learn to play the DRUMS so he could send messages to his
friends in other villages. But LITTLE BEAR had trouble with his lessons in
SMOKE SIGNALS. After one particularly frustrating experience, LITTLE BEAR ran
into his teepee and threw himself down on his buffalo skin bed. "What is the
trouble, LITTLE BEAR," asked his MOTHER who was busy sewing new buckskins for
his father. "MOTHER," why must INDIANS learn to do SMOKE SIGNALS?" LITTLE BEAR
asked. "To communicate," she replied, “This is so the INDIANS from our tribe
can talk to other villages."
"But we have the DRUMS," said LITTLE BEAR. "This may not
always be enough," his MOTHER replied, "we also need the SMOKE SIGNALS." Now
go on back and practice your SMOKE SIGNALS some more.
LITTLE BEAR left the teepee. He stopped by his DRUMS and
sent a little message, but no one answered. So he made a little fire, just the
right size to send SMOKE SIGNALS. He took out his blanket and when the fire
was just right, he trapped the smoke and let out a nice little puff. But it
just didn't look right. Then an old INDIAN said, "I see what you are doing
wrong. You are not spelling it right." LITTLE BEAR looked surprised: he did
not know you could misspell SMOKE SIGNALS. "Let me show you," said the old
INDIAN. He took the blanket and held it a bit differently. As he released the
SMOKE SIGNAL it floated softly into the sky. And it looked just right.
“I see," said LITTLE BEAR, "I was holding it wrong." He
took the blanket and tried it himself. Once again a perfect SMOKE SIGNAL
drifted into the afternoon sky. "Oh, thank you, thank you," he said turning to
where the old INDIAN had stood. But the old INDIAN had disappeared. LITTLE
BEAR ran to the teepee. "MOTHER," he called, "I can do it! Now I can
communicate with DRUMS and SMOKE SIGNALS. MOTHER, who was the old INDIAN who
help me?" But LITTLE BEAR'S MOTHER did not answer, she only smiled.
