#the readability of this sucks but i dont have the energy to fix it. also sorry

[hungersauce]

I'm not part of the peoples the conversation concerns, so take me with a grain of salt, but I like helping and I want to help create new associations that aren't actively racist and have their roots in observations of the real world [vs the appropriation of indigenous beliefs.] And I want to encourage the creation of one's own mythos that isn't 1 to 1 translation thus still engaging with the racism. Soo. As a literary dweeb & freaky little grotesque fan, here's a few [but not all of my] ideas.

Carrion eaters are an obvious choice but you risk further demonizing them - if you use this I'd advice making your 'monster' something that is not actively malicious but instead just an animal existing. [And yes, your horror monsters can DEFINITELY be things that aren't going out of their way. It can actually be scarier and carry more depth to have them be things simply existing, or things of pure metaphor/symbolism. Yknow, anything other than "out to get you."] Honestly, most 'obvious' choices are probably at risk of this. Pick something weird or innocuous if you can.

Rabbits are an animal that are present enough to be hunted and eaten and if they are the primary food source you will still be starving. Your stomach will be full but you will still be dying. There is not enough fat on their lean bodies to feed a human being. Like most rodents, rabbits kept in captivity as livestock are apt to just fall over dead one night. They have real purpose to their cannibalism - only when stressed or they don't have the resources or the baby is sick ect ect ect. They don't do it for giggles.

Horses are a bit trickier. I feel you might risk continued association due to the horse also being a hoofed animal, but there's a very real argument to be made for horses being the first to go during hard times. They need a lot of food and are really fragile and cultures that surrounded horses would eat them in times of need (and you could further use the point that horses are also loved companions - humans feel guilt for the things they do in the name of survival to the things they love.) Horses also just eat small animals for no real reason, and meat in large quantities is toxic to them because their liver isn't made for that, so.

People don't like to think about dogs and death in the same string, but they're important in this conversation I think. They're hunters and companions and that little detail of being companions to humans is what makes them incredibly viable. As previously mentioned, humans generally don't feel very good about it when a companion has to die, especially in our current culture of dogs as things to love and not animals we designed to do work. Carnivores don't usually taste very good and you lose more energy the further away you get from plants in the food chain as far as things you can eat go. Dogs require a decent chunk of resources to have and maintain and the average person probably wouldn't like looking at a starved dog very much. Dogs can read human body language and infer the meaning of new words/movements fairly well, and they are capable of deception, but their cognitive ability is comparable to most other domestic animals. I have a soft spot in my heart for dog imagery - there's a lot of associations to play around with in theming, positive and negative, and using something seen as "cute" and "lovable" that is truly dangerous and needs proper understanding like any other animal is a good way to disturb people.

Any domestic animal is probably good in its own right (hell, how many recorded instances are there of birds feeding on their owners? Cats? Dogs?) but my back hurts and I don't want to be typing anymore. Get creative and look at the world around you for inspiration. Your choices are great and many and you'll find things that fit your purpose shockingly well, if you try.