Kindred became increasingly concerned about the abuse of his new friends, and his animosity grew toward the white settlers who despised the Indians as savages and looked upon them as interlopers on lands that God had ordained to be occupied by white men. It was painful to Kindred, who was somewhat shy and inarticulate among relative strangers, to remain mute when he heard crude jokes about the stupidity or filthiness of the Creek men and the animal-like sex habits of the squaws. He also observed that what the Wrightsborough merchants charged for trade items was quite flexible, boosted substantially by even the reputable and trusted merchants when the natives were forced by urgent need to purchase supplies in the village.

He recalled the attitude of the Quakers of Philadelphia, who had prided themselves on treating the Delaware Indians justly, claiming that their agreements had never been violated although no papers were signed. They chortled, however, over one example of shrewd trading, when William Penn had concluded an agreement to acquire land between two rivers “as far as a man could walk in a day and a half.” He had then hired a champion runner who traversed sixty-six miles in the allotted time.

One day, while returning from the town with Ethan, Kindred criticized one of the merchants whom he had observed trading with an old Cherokee, and was shocked by his friend’s reaction.

Fully confident of his natural status as leader, Ethan said, “Kindred, you are being ridiculed by the folks around here. They see you as being totally misled by the savages and ignorant about what is going on. You have to realize that these people are just different from us. I agree with you that they should not be abused, and you know that Epsey and I have always been willing to help them when they were in need. But everyone knows that they’re living on land that is going to be ours and will have to move beyond the Oconee River in a few years.”

Kindred replied, somewhat angrily, “You’re wrong about this. The Creeks and Cherokees have solemn commitments from the highest British officials, even including the king. Both Governors Wright and Campbell have made this clear, and right now our troops are removing some of the settlers who have cleared land in Indian territory.”