The Island is a closed population. It was separated from the mainland almost six million years ago, leaving the not-quite-tigers who lived there to evolve in isolation. However, there are those who do not follow the laws of the colonies, those who belong to other cultural groups, and those who have chosen to leave the groups they were born into. These tigers are known by the tigers of the colonies as the betrayers.
CONTENT WARNING: Descriptions of xenophobia, deeply unjust treatment of minority groups, and cultural genocide (including the kidnapping of minority children) mentioned in passing. Other crimes implied but not explicitly stated.
"True" Betrayers
Colony cultural belief is that all tigers on the Island are descendants of their own cultural group. This is not true, but due to the dominance of their culture, there are many outsiders who are. "True" betrayers are exiles, self-imposed and otherwise.
These tigers are called "betrayers" because they have betrayed their vows to their colonies and because they have betrayed the gods. Because of their status as oathbreakers (or at the very least disonorable), they are believed to be inherently untrustworthy and dangerous. Their betrayer status also passes on to their descendants; colony cats believe that their inherent untrustworthiness is hereditary. Almost all colony tigers believe that every non-colony tiger on the Island is a "true betrayer" or one of their descendants. Within the actual culture of those called betrayers by the colony cats, it is usually only actual first-generation exiles and heretics who identify with the label of "betrayer." Others consider the label (and the implication that they are incapable of keeping promises or telling the truth) deeply offensive.
Loners & Homesteaders
The Island is only so big, and virtually all portions of it are claimed as the territory of one of the three colonies. Instead of killing all betrayers, colony cats have two legal distinctions of "betrayer" who are allowed to live and hunt within their territories. Those who are born outside of a colony and who do not belong to another culture usually primarily identify based on their current legal status as either a loner or a homesteader; the polite form of address for a non-colony tiger whose status you aren't familiar with is "stranger."
Loners are allowed to move through any territory without extra permission in groups of up to three. Loners have very few restrictions on the type of prey they are allowed to hunt as long as they follow the current restrictions of the relevant colony's Hunting Herald. However, they are not allowed to place territory markers or stay in the same general area for more than a few days at a time. They also are not allowed to engage in trade, especially with homesteaders or other loners. Furthermore, a loner or their loner group may be told to vacate a given territory at any time by members of the relevant colony, and are expected to comply with the order.
Homesteaders may hold a small territory and permanent or semi-permanent densite with the permission of whichever colony's land they are on. A homestead may contain up to ten related individuals. If you are not related by blood or mateship to at least one member of a homestead, it is illegal to associate with them. Homesteaders also have reduced hunting privileges. In general, they are disallowed from hunting large or high-value prey, and must also comply with any restrictions set by the relevant colony's Hunting Herald. However, homesteaders are allowed to participate in trade with other homesteads, and even with colony tigers who are willing. Every colony also allows a loner group which includes a mated pair to form a temporary "emergency" homestead without prior permission if one of the members becomes pregnant. Unrelated individuals still may not be part of a suckler's homestead. Traditionally, if they cannot secure long-term permission, these suckler's homesteads will be allowed to stay until the cubs have two seasons. Homesteaders of both types are also required to semi-regularly (at least once per season) attend full-moon meetings to report births, deaths, and group changes to the Historians.
Other Cultural Groups
Of course, the colony belief that they are the only culture that has ever existed on the Island is completely false. There are many other cultural groups on the Island, including those that predate the colony culture altogether. Other cultures on the Island are primarily identified by colony tigers on the basis of their religious observance or lackthereof. Those who follow another religion, such as the Birds of Paradise, are seen as especially untrustworthy and dangerous on the basis of their blasphemy. However, since they are all still betrayers, even tigers who follow other religions are entitled to the legal status of loner or homesteader.
Struggles of the Strangers
Obviously, those identified as "betrayers" by colony cats do not have easy lives. From a young age, cubs are taught that all betrayers are habitual liars who are more likely to break promises than keep them. Accusations of all sorts of other moral crimes typically follow, especially for cultural groups with different religious beliefs. Very significantly, it is virtually impossible for a crime against a stranger to be prosecuted; after all, who would believe an inherently untrustworthy individual when they say that they have been harmed by someone assumed to be honorable simply by virtue of the fact that they belong to an "honorable" culture? Crimes against outsiders by colony tigers are common, and many other injustices (such as displacing them, restricting access to food and medicine, or preventing groups from gathering together) are perfectly legal. Strangers who break the laws of the colonies (or who are accused of such) are often killed, and even when they do receive trials, they are often unfair simply because "betrayers" are not seen as credible witnesses.
However, some colonies are a little more welcoming than others. Swamp's Shadow is the most hospitable to homesteaders due to a cultural belief in hospitality, and a belief that all tigers on the Island have a gods-given desire to live in the bog (and a belief that the only honorable burial is within the bog). Swamp's Shadow is more likely to allow a trial to take place, and therefore more likely to allow sympathetic colony tigers to represent wronged betrayers at a trial. Furthermore, tigers of the Shadow have a legal relationship type that allows for two non-related, non-mate tigers to be considered family; this is often utilized by homesteaders within their territory to allow friends and lovers (unfortunately the colony tigers are monogamists) to homestead with them.
Tide's Leap is the most sympathetic to the plight of the strangers in general. While a member of the Leap would be offended if you said it to them, Worraporrwa is the god most associated with liars and codebreakers. Because of their reverence for Worraporrwa, members of Tide's Leap are generally more lenient about liars and deserters. Similarly, because of their reverence of Mesha, they are in particular sympathetic to the cubs of oathbreakers and are less likely to punish them for the sins of their parents. Strangers with a desire to join a colony often find the most luck in Tide's Leap, and in general the Leap is more lenient about non-hunting violations of their rules because of a belief in the consent of the governed. Furthermore, because of this belief, Tide's Leap has in the past allowed betrayers within their territory to participate in votes that might affect them (although this is not without controversy).
Dawn's Streak is and always has been especially hostile to the betrayers. They greatly revere Ashekorrl as a god of justice and view Worraporrwa like a devil figure, so their revulsion of liars and oathbreakers is much stronger than that of other colonies. In particular they tend to come into conflict with the Birds of Paradise, a pacifist minority religious group on the Island who worship a singular god of the sky. The Streak views them as not only betrayers but also heretics and cowards; however, the Birds' religion often drives their members to scale the mountain (and therefore venture into the Streak's territory) anyway in order to be closer to their god. In contrast to their more conservative culture on betrayers, Dawn's Streak is the only colony that does not necessarily hold cubs responsible for the sins of their parents. Dawn's Streak believes that a cub has the same legal status as their primary parent, but especially their mother-- which means that mixed-blooded cubs are full members of the colony of whichever parent is raising them, and betrayer cubs adopted (or stolen) by colony members are full members of that colony and do not inherit the lying tongue of a betrayer. This is known as Shossuow's Decree. There are more nuances to it, but that's better left to another post.
Even tho i know that the "goddess with no name" will turn out to be Cassandra, I'm getting huge vibes from this plot that reminds me of how the Betrayers in Exandria had their names taken to keep them out of Exandria (via the Tree of Names)
Therefore, i wonder if Brennan planned this parallel
Like Judas, many professing Christians—like the Pro-Life Evangelicals for Biden—use their supposed commitment to helping poor people as an excuse to dishonour Jesus.
