White youth understood red youth.

The forest could be as truly a kingdom as cities and fields, and within the limits of his horizon Tayoga, a coming chief of the clan of the Bear, of the nation Onondaga, of the League of the Hodenosaunee, was as thoroughly of royal blood as any sovereign on his throne.

He and his father and his father's father before him and others before them had heard the old men and the women chant the prowess and invincibility of the Hodenosaunee, and of that great league, the Onondagas, the Keepers of the Wampum, the Brand and the Council Fire, were in Tayoga's belief first, its heart and soul.
Robert had pride of race himself--it was a time when an ancient stock was thought to count for much--and he was sure that the blood in his veins was noble, but, white though he was, he did not feel any superiority to Tayoga.

Instead he paid him respect where respect was due because, born to a great place in a great race, he was equal to it.

He understood, too, why the Hodenosaunee seemed immutable and eternal to its people, as ancient Rome had once seemed unshakable and everlasting to the Romans, and, understanding, he kept his peace.
The lake, slender and long, now narrowed to a width of forty or fifty yards and curved sharply toward the east.