We are the cat worshipers of Kitti-Nikki Island or, as we call ourselves, Kitti-Kats. We are
only a tribe of 2,000 people and there are exactly 26 cats, including our
queen, living on the Island. Kitti-Nikki Island is a small island of 60 square
miles in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Our Island is rich in plant biodiversity; we have many tall, beautiful trees that sometimes we have trouble getting down
from. The island has many high hills. From atop these hills it is possible to
see out over the entire Island, and because of this, living on these hills is
preferred. Our climate is tropical, but rain is a very rare (and scary) thing
for us. It never gets too hot or too cold here, because we are surrounded by
water (scary) and that helps keep the temperature of the Island steady. We mostly hunt for subsistence; there are
several native mice species that are our most commonly hunted food, and
sometimes we also go after small reptiles, like geckos and other little
lizards. Fishing is another common way we get our food, although we like to
stay completely dry when doing this. We will never get in the water no matter
how hungry we are. In our culture, the
hunting and eating of any kind of bird is extremely sacred. We only hunt and
eat birds during our religious rituals and some celebrations. However, our queen,
Nikki LX, is allowed to hunt and eat any bird whenever she wants (most of the
time she’s too lazy to hunt the bird herself, so she’ll allow others to hunt
for her). On occasion we’ll eat wild
leaves and fruit.
We worship cats because we came from cats. Some 3,000
years ago, five cats—Kitty, Fat Girl, Bella, Tom Cat, and Nikki I – arrived on
the Island by raft. These cats came from another, much larger Island, which no
longer exists, as it was destroyed by dogs shortly after our ancestors left it.
These five, special cats were extremely
intelligent and were able to live off of our small Island. Tom Cat only mated
with Nikki I and she gave birth to five litters in the first year on the
Island. In each litter, two cats and one
human were born. Each year after that, Nikki I had one litter of two cats and
one human until she died at the age of 50. By this time, there were 55 humans
and 110 cats on the Island. Every cat that was descended from Nikki I was
treated as a brother or sister of the humans. Cats are much wiser than us, so
the humans learned everything about how to live through their cat siblings.
Eventually, though, our Island was attacked by dogs and only two of our cat
siblings, Baby and Chubbz, survived the ordeal.
All of the cats we have on the Island now are the descendants of these
two cats, and therefore they are our siblings.
As a part of our religion, we do not worship our sibling
cats, but rather we treat them as royalty. We only worship our seven ancestral
cats—Kitty, Fat Girl, Bella, Tom Cat, Nikki I, Baby, and Chubbz. Each cat
protects us and provides us with certain things. Kitty protects us from the
water/rain, but provides us with freshwater to drink. Fat Girl protects us from
food shortages and provides us with plenty of mice to hunt. Bella protects us
from the sun and wind, and provides us with shelter. Tom Cat protects us from
poisonous plants, but provides us with tall trees to climb. Nikki I is our
mother cat who protects us from diseases and illnesses. She is the giver and
taker of life. Baby protects us from hate, and provides us with a love for
everything. Chubbz protects us from gluttony and provides us with the fish that
we eat.
Cats have always been in charge of running our society.
All cats are capable of speech and have the capacity to rule over humans. Our
government is a monarchy ruled by Queen Nikki LX. She has been our ruler for
the past 10 years, since her mother Nikki LIX died. All cats on the Island hold positions in the
government and have authority over all humans, even though we consider them our
siblings.
In our culture, kinship is traced through the mother’s
side in cats, and the crown is handed down from mother to daughter. For humans,
though, we all accept that we are the descendants of Tom Cat and Nikki I, and
therefore we are all siblings. We treat everyone on the Island as if they are
our brother or sister. We do not see anyone except our
parents and our spouses as anything but a sibling.
Marriages are arranged by the government based on who
they believe will produce productive citizens in our society. If an individual
has not been matched up with their spouse by the age of 20, it is more than
likely that that individual will lead a solitary life. Marriages last for life
and cannot be terminated.
The religion star represents each ancestral cat
through the seven colors represented. The colors in the five points are the
colors of the five founding cats. The star stands for everything each cat does,
plus the beginnings of our culture. Not only is it our religious symbol, but
also a symbol of our heritage, as the two go hand in hand.
This is the flag of Kitti-Nikki Island. It displays an image
of our ancestor and mother cat, Nikki I. Each circle next to her represents the
other four founding cats of our Island. The flag represents our form of government,
the monarchy, with Nikki I as our first monarch. This symbol also represents
the government and the power that cats have over humans, as they were the ones
who founded our Island and tribe.
This is our marriage symbol. The two rectangles represent
each spouse and their coming together to create a bond that produces life. The
green square in the middle represents the offspring that they produce, as green
is the color of life. The symbol also represents positivity and productivity,
as well as unbreakable bonds and everlasting relationships, as marriages are
not allowed to end in our society.
This symbol represents kinship. It is a web of all
things we stand for, featuring all of the colors of our ancestral cats.
Everything is tangled together in to one big web, much like our big family on
the Island. This symbol also represents unity and our reliance on each other to
make our society work.
