The Porcupine's Gift of Spears

When the first Samburu man was created, Nkai gave him cattle, but no way to defend them from lions. The man was in despair. He saw a Porcupine being attacked by a leopard. The Porcupine simply raised its quills, and the leopard, pricked and bleeding, retreated. The man was amazed. He went to the Porcupine and said, "Creature of the earth, you are small, but you have a great defense. I am large, but I have none." The Porcupine, who was a wise spirit, felt pity for the man. It plucked one of its longest, sharpest quills and gave it to him. "This is a gift from the earth," it said. "It is small, but if you use it with a clever mind, it will be powerful." The man took the quill and saw that it was a tiny spear. This gave him the idea to create his own, larger spear (rem), with a sharp point like the quill and a long wooden shaft. With this new weapon, he was able to defend his herd. The story is a "culture hero" myth, explaining the origin of the Samburu's most important tool, the spear, as a gift of knowledge from a humble but well-defended animal.