“What about the Spanish, who first moved into Georgia and Florida and now have ceded the territory to Britain?”

“I only know what my uncle has told me. The Spaniards have been the worst of all, looking upon those not sharing their religion as animals whose lives are insignificant. They have been cruel and despotic. When they first arrived in Florida and along the coast of Georgia long ago, there were many thousands of Timucuas in Florida. Through disease, assassinations, and starvation, the Spaniards almost completely wiped out the entire population. When the British took over Florida recently, the Spanish carried all the surviving Timucuas back to Europe—in one ship! These were the Christians, and there were less than one hundred of them. Now a number of my fellow Creeks, Cherokees, runaway slaves, and criminals are moving southward to settle the abandoned lands. They are becoming known as Seminoles, which means ‘wild ones,’ or ‘runaways.’ ”

Deeply troubled by all this, Kindred asked, “Don’t your people see that relating to the Europeans is just bringing tragedy, and the eventual loss of your hunting grounds? You have brave warriors who know the forests, and who could band together and protect the land and your way of life.”

Newota smiled and said, “You are speaking as an Indian, but as a foolish one. You have to remember that we are not united and never will be. Ours is a nation of small and independent towns, and the clans are not willing to accept orders from distant chiefs. Unfortunately, most of our fighting is done among ourselves, and not against a common enemy. When leaders come together, any decisions are made by consensus, after extremely long deliberations. This usually means that compromises wipe away any hope for strong or concerted action. In fact, the Indian superintendent knows much more about the individual tribes than do any of us, and he has paid spies among us who prevent any surprises.

“We have been defeated whenever we have opposed the settlers with weapons. The only successes are claimed by young men who go at night to attack the more isolated colonials, and these have been mostly north of here. They are the acts of cowards, without the honor of warriors, and almost always work to our disadvantage. Whites take retribution against entire clans for misdeeds of a few, so that our losses in property and lives are far greater than any harm inflicted. Our elders are then inclined to sue for peace, and almost always lose in the talks.”

Without realizing it, Kindred placed himself in the position of the natives. “Newota, I know that some of these things can’t be changed, but the situation is not hopeless. It’s the British officials that try to protect your people, and the threats are coming from the settlers. They’re still moving into Georgia and I hear them talking about driving the natives out by force, destroying villages and even killing your families.”