Crossword Genius

Natives in small settlement train slave girl (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

villagers

'natives in small settlement' is the definition.
(people who live in a village)

'train slave girl' is the wordplay.
'train' indicates an anagram (to train can mean to grow something into a shape).
'slave'+'girl'='slavegirl'
'slavegirl' with letters rearranged gives 'VILLAGERS'.

(Another definition for villagers that I've seen is " Grave ills (anag.)".)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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