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Few Nuwaubians speak to the press on the record. Those who do are proud of the group. "You are here on the land," a Nuwaubian man said pointedly to a reporter in Tama-Re. "Do you see a cult or a compound? We are just people who have come together in love and peace." Still, the Nuwaubians, who now call themselves the Yamassee Native American Moors of the Creek Nation, are increasingly high profile in local politics. They have enrolled their children in public schools, registered to vote and joined local branches of civil rights organizations en masse. About 125 of the 550 members of the Putnam County N.A.A.C.P. are Nuwaubians. The people in the county, 30% black and 70% white, expect the Nuwaubians to flex their muscle at the polls any time now. "They're the nicest people," says a young white waitress at Rusty's, a small diner in downtown Eatonton. "But I'm afraid they are trying to take over the town."