'During this speech the elders who didn't understand a word of what their learned secretary was saying nodded approval intermittently. When it was over the ...

'During this speech the elders who didn't understand a word of what their learned secretary was saying nodded approval intermittently. When it was over the elders said yes, they had a learned man indeed, a man who could speak for them, a man who knew the wisdom of the old white people, not like the small boys nowadays who cant even read a telegram'.
In these passage the elders are presented as