Folklore like the Wendigo legend serves a functional purpose for society by discouraging anti-social behavior like cannibalism through fear of supernatural consequences.

“I tend to take a view that like a lot of sort of like religious stories kind of just sort of they serve two purposes. Maybe the religious story is true. Maybe the windo is a real thing that we need to be worried about. Sure. Maybe it's a demon and that's just their word for a demon.”