After the end of war between the Cape Colony and the amaXhosa in 1820, a large tract of country was proclaimed as ‘neutral’, and theoretically to remain uninhabited either by the colonists or by the amaXhosa. In fact, as was predictable, people from both sides moved in and tried to establish themselves there. These included Maqoma, a leading Xhosa chief, with his large following, who crossed the low hills from the Tyhume valley to settle in the upper Kat River valley. In 1829, however, the British proceeded to expel him and those around him. The pretext for this action was Maqoma's attack on a group of the abaThembu, north across the mountains, but the deeper reason had to do with the maintenance of a buffer between the amaXhosa and the increasingly profitable colonial farms to the west of the Kat River, for instance in the Koenap valley or the region of modern Adelaide. The land in question was then distributed among several hundred Khoekhoe families, mainly from the mission stations elsewhere in the Eastern Cape or from among those who had served in the Cape Corps as soldiers. Most claimed to be of Gona descent, but there were also those who had an (acknowledged) European father and a Khoekhoe mother, and who were known as ‘Bastards’.

The Kat River Settlement, as it came to be called, was created to be a ‘breastwork’, protecting the colony from future Xhosa incursions. In order to make this possible, the Khoekhoe were granted plots of land which were small by colonial South African standards, but were viable because an extensive irrigation system was created in the valley. The settlement's inhabitants also constructed two churches and numerous schools. These formed the localities where they gave expression to their views on numerous aspects of colonial life. In particular, the Philipton church congregation, served by the experienced missionary the Rev. James Read, and also his son and namesake, became the centre for the conversations in the course of which Khoekhoe views of the world were enunciated.