The Shark and the First Fisherman

When the first Mijikenda people reached the coast, they did not know the ways of the ocean. A man named Mwavuo built the first canoe and went out to sea. A great Shark, the king of the ocean, rose from the depths. Mwavuo was terrified. But the Shark spoke to him. "You are new to my kingdom," the Shark said. "I will teach you the secrets of the sea—where to find fish, when the storms are coming—if you make me a promise." Mwavuo asked what the promise was. "You and all your descendants must never eat the flesh of my children, the sharks." Mwavuo agreed. The Shark taught him how to read the currents and the clouds, and he became a great fisherman who fed his people. His family, the clan of Mwavuo, holds the shark as their sacred totem to this day. They are the masters of the sea because their ancestor made a pact with its king.