Ben Franklin, in a letter to his daughter, argued that the Turkey should be America's national bird. Unlike the bald eagle, which he considered to be both a coward and inedible, the turkey was both brave and delicious!
The Aztecs deified the turkey as Chalchiuhtotolin, the Jeweled Bird and believed the turkey could cleanse humans of contamination and absolve them of guilt
Image of An Aztec Emperor in the guise of a Turkey from Codex Borbonicus (Special Collections, Rare Books ff F1219.C640 1974)