“When I was younger, I remember hearing this story from older adults when I was an elementary student. Nahuales, who are people who have made a deal with the devil in order to become a shapeshifter. They shapeshift into animals or anything of their choosing in order to lure kids and cause harm. The first time I heard it was from a friend who said she heard of someone’s family who returned home to find a turkey standing in the middle of the room. The mother, sensing that something was off, smacked the turkey with a broom to try to get it out of the house, but to no avail, the turkey stayed. The daughter tried to pull the mom away from the turkey, and finally, when she did, the turkey left the house and shape-shifted back into its human form.”

Analysis:

Nauguals seem to serve 2 purposes: to warn children of dangers, and to warn them of the devil. This informant remarks that she heard this originally from older adults, but most commonly told stories between her friends. I think that this goes to show how folklore can range within a single community, dependent on your social groups: as a child, she was able to bond with her friends by telling these stories about this mutual creature they knew and feared, but the adults of her community more so used it as a way to try and keep their children safe.