"But in this case the metaphor is conscious and precise: this is the story of European engagement with the native peoples of the Americas."
One planetary race driving another into extinction is a universal, cookie-cutter sci-fi plot device. See Independence Day or Ender's Game. I suppose this was the only one where the victims had some sort of aboriginal-sounding accent, but I wouldn't take it as social commentary.
Could have been from some of the plant life. There certainly seemed to be an abundance of native flora and fauna that took sufficiently different forms from the standard leafy greens that it isn't implausible that the "feathers" were really plant-based.
Then again, it's a made up world in a sci-fi movie; there is a long list of things that wouldn't be "implausible."
One planetary race driving another into extinction is a universal, cookie-cutter sci-fi plot device. See Independence Day or Ender's Game. I suppose this was the only one where the victims had some sort of aboriginal-sounding accent, but I wouldn't take it as social commentary.