The Great Spirit and the Porcupine

At the beginning of time, the Great Spirits created the Earth and everything on it. Man now walked the Earth, along with the horses and buffalo. The Great Spirits were very happy with Their work and decided to take a break.

One of the Spirits decided to walk among the Earth, to view this creation for Herself. While on Earth, She conversed with men and rode horses. She talked to the mice in the field and the eagles in the air. She asked all the same question: Was there anything they weren’t pleased with in their creation?

Man and all the creatures She talked to answered the same: They were all pleased with how the Spirits created them.

There was one creature the Spirit had not talked to yet. The Porcupine. So the Spirit went in search of the animal to ask Her question.

The Spirit found the Porcupine in a pine forest, eating the bark and needles from the tree. With his soft fur, he was such a cute and cuddly figure that the Spirit just wanted to hug and cuddle it. Before She could approach the Porcupine, though, a wolf came along and killed the poor Porcupine.

The Great Spirit chased off the wolf and picked up the dead Porcupine. She was greatly saddened by the murder of this beautiful part of the Spirits' creation. She decided to make things more even for the Porcupine.

So She recreated the Porcupine using leftover parts from the Creation of All. To the Porcupine’s soft, soft fur, She added long, sharp quills with a barb on the tips, so that he may be able to defend himself better. She made the teeth sharper and decided that they needed to continue growing since their diet included eating tree bark. She gave them long claws to help them in climbing trees. When She was done, the Spirit was pleased with Her work. So She brought the Porcupine back to life and set him back down on the forest floor.

The Porcupine thanked the Great Spirit for Her kindness and thoughtfulness and continued on his way.

This is how the Porcupine got his quills.