A Foolish Chief

A brazen young brave of the Helowee Nation
Challenged the chief out of utter frustration.
"Chief Soaring Eagle, I've something to question;
Our tribe has a title which has no translation.

I've wondered and worked, asked all I could see,
But nobody knows how our name came to be.
It's strange and it's silly, this name we do bear,
Not born of heritage or honor we wear."

A flickering smile crossed the face of the chief;
His son stared at him in complete disbelief.
"I don't find it funny, our name is a joke?"
He silenced as Chief Soaring Eagle then spoke.

"Come sit with me, son, and I'll tell you the story,
Great-grandfather told me why we're called Helowee.
It all came to pass in a place long ago,
When red men and white men both chased buffalo.

Our land then was led by a man of distinction,
Chief Proud Paw, plagued with no sense of direction.
It happened that hunting went badly that year,
So Chief Proud Paw called for his men to come near.

He spoke to them sternly for fear they'd all starve,
Deciding he'd plan the new path they would carve.
He led the next party, precisely as planned,
His men were too frightened to take a firm stand.

They set out to find some fine food they could feed on,
But soon started searching for landmarks to lead on.
The snow began falling and then they were lost,
They came upon footprints they'd formerly crossed.

Chief then conceded being challenged geographically,
His tribe looked around them and agreed most emphatically.
Just then, in the distance, smoke signals they saw.
'We soon will be saved,' said lost Chief Proud Paw.

They approached with aplomb, didn't want to seem meek.
Wild winds must have muffled the words he did speak.
The heralding heard as, 'We're the Helowee.'
What Chief Proud Paw said was, 'Where the hell are we?'

And now, my dear son, you've heard the sad story
Of how our tribe's title became the Helowee.
An embarrassing tale, and to tell it took guts.
A shame our name came 'cause our chief was a putz."