The Lamanite reaction to the presence of the Gadianton robbers is different from that of the Nephites. What accounts for it? For the Nephites, the Gadiantons represented a dissenting political/social movement, part of the Nephite world, though an undesirable part. In contrast, the Lamanites seem to have viewed the Gadiantons as interlopers and usurpers. Lacking the same base of operation (most probably kin/clan structures), the Gadiantons would have more readily been seen as foreign and therefore a danger to the Lamanite majority. In contrast, in Nephite lands they were becoming the majority. Possibly this description is a literary necessity required by Mormon’s contrast between the “righteous” Lamanites and increasingly “unrighteous” Nephites.