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The Cuicatec people are noted for their many witches and numerous varieties of witchcraft. The people of the tribe live in constant fear of the evil spirits and witches. The following article is based on material and stories given to me by Margarita Guevara de Zúñiga, a Cuicatec woman who makes part of her living traveling from village to village exchanging and selling her wares. While journeying she has made many friends and heard many tales of witchcraft. One day I asked Margarita if she believed in witchcraft, and this was her answer. "There are witches in the world and evil spirits too, because my mother saw them." So Margarita told the following story. [Editor's note: Three short Cuicatec texts by Margarita Guevara de Zúñiga on witchcraft were published in Tlalocan in 1963.]

You may not believe what I am going to tell you but we believe it because my people have seen many strange things. My grandmother told me that the witches could change their form. Between the hours of midnight and three in the morning the women turn themselves into turkeys and the men turn themselves into burros. You may not believe this but my grandmother and many more of my relatives saw this with their eyes. The witches in the form of turkeys would go around the village throwing stones at houses, or change themselves into large people and throw themselves on the roofs of the houses. The men witches would often burn the roofs of the houses where their enemies lived.

The people were afraid to travel by night for fear of encountering a witch on the trail. I have a friend in the next village who was so mad at a man that he couldn't even look him in the face. One night when he was traveling home on his horse he met a burro on the trail. That burro was a queer animal for it would hardly let the rider pass it. On another journey when my friend was traveling home at night, he met a burro that zigzagged back and forth in front of him and wouldn't let him pass. Finally the man took out his huge knife and cut the animal. A few days later my friend met the burro again during his journey by night and the animal was so persistent in trying to stop him that he knifed the burro, cutting it badly. This time he knew the burro was a witch, so he went to the house of a man who was not his friend and asked to see the man. He was told that the man was very sick and that he could not see him. That evening the sick man died and he was buried on the following day. He died from knife wounds, but how he received them nobody knew. Then my friend knew for sure he was a witch.

For those who want a good corn crop, they can hire a witch to charm the field. The witch takes an eggshell and some feathers and places them in a certain way so as to make a charm and puts them in the corn field. The ones who are sick can hire a witchdoctor to cure them or to chase away the bad luck. If evil spirits are making them sick then the witchdoctor can chase them out for whatever fee he asks.

If a man didn't believe in the witches, he lived a horrible life. His house was haunted, his life was in constant danger, and finally death would come to him if he did not patronize the witches.

Of course we do not have witches in our village any more. I remember when I was a little girl how they were run out of town. It was the men of the town who found out that the witches weren't any good, that their medicines often killed people, and their charms did not always work. When the people learned the truth they set a day to drive the witches out of town. On the set day there was a big commotion. The witches were thrown out of their houses and then the people picked up dung and threw it at witches and chased them out of town. If the witches tried to return to the village then the dung was thrown in their faces. That was years ago. Now our village is so advanced that we do not have any more witchcraft. [Note: The village still has a few witches but witchcraft is not practiced openly.] Sometimes we have evil spirits here, but Concepción Pápalo has no witches.

You may not believe all of this but my people know that it is true for they have seen these things.