Kindred and Mavis tried to make a scholarly comparison between the settlers and the nearby Indians, and they found surprising differences between their living conditions. Kindred knew that some of the Indians near the older settlements in Pennsylvania had adopted improved agricultural practices of the Europeans and were planting the same varieties of corn, sweet potatoes, wheat, buckwheat, tobacco, and sugarcane. However, their Indian neighbors in Georgia still used traditional farming practices, what the Europeans called “swidden.” They cleared small plots of cropland in an area by cutting through the bark layers of the large trees, removing smaller trees and bushes for firewood, and burning the remaining trash and ground debris. They were then free to plant among the dead trees and stumps by poking holes in the ground with a pointed stick and planting several seeds in the same hill, primarily corn and yams, but also beans, sunflowers, and even vines that produced pumpkins, squash, and gourds. This small area was cultivated the same way for a few years, until the soil nutrients were depleted and a new area had to be cleared. Usually, within five years or so, the soil around an entire village was no longer productive and, with the game and fish also depleted, the village had to be moved. One adverse consequence of this was to give proof to the Europeans’ claim that the Indians were nomads and not fixed to any particular place, and therefore should not object to moving farther westward.

With few exceptions, the women did all the work in these small plots, which were mostly just large gardens. The crops were for their own consumption and were combined with roots and leaves from edible plants and meat from the animals and fish that the hunters brought home. Tobacco was also an ancient and important product, smoked for pleasure and in peace ceremonies.

Multicolored corn was the dominant crop, and the annual Green Corn Ceremony, or Busk, was the most sacred holiday. Men and women were separated, the village cleaned, the existing fires extinguished; then everyone bathed, the shaman relighted the sacred fire, and all crimes, except murder, were forgiven. Then the clan feasted, and women took coals from the central place and started new fires in their own wigwams.