Read the excerpt from “An Address to the Whites.” You here behold an Indian, my kindred are Indians, and my fathers sleeping in the wilderness grave—they too were Indians. But I am not as my fathers were—broader means and nobler influences have fallen upon me. I have had greater advantages than most of my race; and I now stand before you delegated by my native country to seek her interest, to labor for her respectability, and by my public efforts to assist in raising her to an equal standing with other nations of the earth.

What is most likely the meaning of kindred as it is used in the excerpt?

a. companions

b. mentors

c. relatives

d . supporters