Intro:

Note: this doc is easier to read with the Google Doc mobile app, or on a computer. I have no idea why the images get distorted when opened in a mobile browser, but they just do and I don’t know how to fix it.

Hadïh once more. If you’ve seen my document on the subject of feathers and the way they are used in a manner that is racist in character designs, you probably already know who I am. If not, I am Kit. I am Wet’suwet’en. My pronouns are they/them. I’ve been in the warrior cats fandom for many years, and as of late I’ve been trying to become more vocal about the issues this series has, specifically involving cultural appropriation and Indigenous stereotypes. I didn’t think I’d be making a second document so soon,  but that’s just how it will be, I guess.

Also: I do not condone any harassment targeted towards anybody in this document. Do not harass the mods of the game. Do not enter the WCUE discord with the sole intention of attacking people. Do not harass anyone, no matter if they are rude and try to defend the racist use of this stereotype. This document was created for the sole purpose of bringing awareness to the actions of the people mentioned and highlighting why their actions are harmful in the hopes that others won’t follow suit. Again, I do not condone ANY harassment directed at the people that are mentioned in this document. Misiyh.

Content Warning:

This document contains blatant racism, pictures of racist stereotypes against Indigenous people, trauma denial made by the colonizer, strong language, and racist beliefs that may be upsetting to indigenous people. Viewer discretion is advised.

Foreword:

If you have not read my first document yet, I implore that you do so in order to understand where I, and many other Indigenous people, are coming from. I will link it here. Also, if you are going into this doc planning to tell me off for “being sensitive”, or how “the feathers aren’t racist all cultures use feathers” or anything similar, I ask you to think for a second: are you Indigenous? Because if you aren’t, then your words have no weight in this debate in the slightest because the stereotype will not impact you.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ll3Gfo7d5kD2GLT1F1t4fUcP9LkLRHWBQ197XffU_Os/edit?usp=sharing

If you’ve read the entirety of it, you may understand why the “Feather behind the ear” trope is harmful and racist, and why Indigenous people are vocal about it being removed. With that in mind, let’s look at a video game that has become very popular in the Warrior Cats fandom: Warrior Cats Ultimate Edition.

The game itself, according to the wiki, was in beta for two years before being released on May 7th, of this year. While I haven’t been able to find any of the mods’ or devs’ social media or any info about them besides the trailer and the wiki, I am going into this document assuming that all of them are non-Indigenous.

This first started out when someone mentioned the game on the twitter post of the feather document I’d created, saying that they’d ask if changes could be made following the post I made on May 30th. They responded again not long after, saying that they’d been told to delete the suggestion, and that they’d been muted or banned just for suggesting it.

First Complaints and Denials

The screenshots I am showing now were kindly provided to me by a user who has decided that they would like to remain anonymous, now that the doc is out in the open. This shows that I wasn’t the first person to bring up the fact that the feathers should probably be removed. The users of all the bystanders have been censored for their safety.

There are many more screenshots going on like this, but you get the idea.

I’d also like to include a screenshot featuring all of the responses from one of the devs themselves.

I’ve also found out that many of the people who brought up the subject of feathers were harassed insistently to the point that some of them left the server entirely. The mods even installed a rule that anyone who brought up the subject would be muted or given a warning.

So the mods were deliberately trying to silence anybody who brought up the topic, whether they were against the subject or not.

I was giving them the benefit of the doubt of just not knowing how serious it was until I actually contacted one of the mods, Pavalineox, which I will talk about next.

Talking with the Devs/Mods

I joined the server and contacted Pavalineox, who was listed as the go-to for complaints/concerns. Here is the message I sent them.

This was their first response, and this is where our argument began.

For those who didn’t read the document I wrote originally on the subject of feathers, here it is again: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ll3Gfo7d5kD2GLT1F1t4fUcP9LkLRHWBQ197XffU_Os/edit?usp=sharing

Basically, the way the feathers are designed in the game (Behind the ear) are similar to a drawn trope in racist stereotypical drawings of Indigenous people, which were made to mock and belittle our culture, a tactic used in the colonization of Indigenous people and our land.

At this point, I was beyond insulted and furious, and I realize now that what I said in the image above was quite aggressive, and I apologize. I was seeing red by that point.

At this point, they basically admitted that everyone on the dev team has the same belief: the feather trope is none of their concern.

I literally have no words for what happened here.

At this point they blocked me, and all communications halted.

I have not played the game itself, but I’ve seen plenty of videos, fanart, and screenshots where the feather trope is in full display.

TLDR; I contacted one of the main devs, who is also a mod for the game’s discord server, about the issue. They first told me it was none of their concern, consistently claimed that symbol was not racist despite never telling me anywhere whether or not they were Indigenous, tried to excuse their behaviour, questioned whether or not i was SEEING THINGS RIGHT, became condescending when I repeatedly asked them to remove the feather, then pretended that our conversation had never happened and told me I was racist for not wanting a racist caricature against Indigenous people (and I cannot stress this enough, I AM Indigenous) in their game, a game based off of a series that already has Indigenous stereotypes and appropriation.

Final Words:

So… that conversation was maybe one of the most frustrating I’ve ever had. I always try and remain passive when informing people about these stereotypes, as not everyone is fully educated on the history of Indigenous people, but this dev bent over backwards to try and tell me why I was wrong, even calling me a bully and that I “was abusing my authority” for… not wanting a racist caricature in their game. From the looks of it, the entire team shares the same sentiment.

With all this in mind, I ask you, if you play the game Warrior Cats Ultimate or know someone who does, to please stop. Because the devs won’t listen to reason, the direct solution is to make it clear to them that their actions are not acceptable in this community. Do not play the game, and if possible report the game and the devs with the Roblox report options for discriminatory actions against ethnic/cultural origins. DO NOT HARASS THE MODS, ANYONE WHO COMPLAINS ABOUT THIS DOC, OR ANYBODY MENTIONED IN THE DOC. I do not know the twitter @s of the devs, but do not try to harass them. Don’t stoop to their level. If you really want to, you can try and (respectfully) talk sense into them with the evidence I provided here and in my first doc, but do not be rude.

If you weren’t aware of the negative connotations of the stereotype, do not beat yourself up over it, but make sure you know it from now on, and be sure to try and educate your friends if you see them making the same mistake. If you are planning to argue or yell at me for this document and you aren’t Indigenous, then I will simply block you and hide your reply. I have no more energy to continuously tell angry white people why this is racist.

If you are a dev for the game and you are reading this, I ask you: think about someone other than yourself. Look at all the evidence that has been gathered. Stop trying to deny the consequences of your hurtful words. If the entire dev team offers a public, sincere apology to indigenous people, promises to do better to avoid using racist stereotypes and tropes, and edits the designs so that the trope is no longer in the game AT ALL, the tweet this doc is in will be deleted. Not “edited so only those who don’t want to see them can’t see them”, edited so the option to have a racist caricature on your character is removed entirely.

If you were one of the people harassed for bringing up the subject of why the feather trope is bad and would like to share your screenshots of the events or have screenshots removed, DM me and I will be more than happy to oblige. Special thanks to those who brought this issue to light and gave me evidence as I worked on this document.

Stay safe, wear a mask, boycott Warrior Cats Ultimate, and if you are still reading, thank you for hearing me out. Misiyh, dzïn honzu.

Update 1:

So the official WCUE twitter has released a statement saying that they are changing the feathers to leaves, and an apology from one of the mods was released on their discord. However, they are consistently dodging my question of when an official, public apology will be offered to the indigenous community.

Not only that, but Pav (the dev that I talked with originally) blamed me for being “rude” to him and “misrepresenting his words”, which I don’t really know what to say about that.

Maybe I’m wrong, but I think I’m perfectly valid for not wanting to talk anymore with a person who was openly rude and condescending to me and is continuing to call me racist for… some reason?? I haven’t been told at all why, although two of my assumptions are A) because I referred to white people once as colonizers, or B) for bringing it up to begin with to the devs.

Not only that, but consistently since I posted this doc, people who so much as mention the issue on the discord get instabanned. And, according to a statement from the mod, they aren’t coming back.

So… yeah. The mods are censoring anyone who brings up the issue, and are letting one of their mods spread lies about me being racist with literally no evidence at all.

Until an actual apology is made to the Indigenous community, and the people who were banned for no reason, the doc will be staying up.