When I was in my mid-teens we lived in De Queen, Arkansas. A small town without many touristy sites. One weekend family friends came to visit and since there were not many sights to see, my parents decided we would all drive into Oklahoma for some sightseeing.

One of the stops we made on our excursion was at an Indian memorial. Jim, one of our friends, tried to convince me that if I were to stand in front of the Indian memorial, cross my arms with elbows raised and chant, “Indian, Indian, What you say?” that an Indian spirit would reply, “Nothing at all.” My family and Jim both continued to badger me until I gave in and said I would do it.

Stepping up to the memorial, I crossed my arms, raised my elbows and started chanting. After a few seconds, I turned around and said, “It didn’t work, I knew that it wouldn’t.” In turn, Jim walked up to me and kind of pushed me back toward the memorial saying, “You have to stand closer.” Reluctantly, I moved closer, crossed my arms, raised my elbows and chanted, “Indian, Indian, What you say?” Jim said, “Did you hear that?” With a roll of my eyes, I said, “No.” Jim replied, “I heard it, he said nothing at all. Do it again and raise your voice.”

The family was standing around egging me on to do it again. One more time, I crossed my arms, raised my elbows and chanted, “Indian, Indian, What you say?” Jim said, “He said it again!” “The Indian replied nothing at all…” About that time, it dawned on me that the joke was on me. The spirit did reply. I just wasn’t listening.