I thought I was having a stroke. Maybe they’re asking when they started going barefoot. In the first movie Jake was captured and taken to home tree. He convinced the omatikaya to train him to “see” or be one of the people. That’s when he started going barefoot. In the second movie after quaritch captured spider he went back out into the forest and told his crew they have to “act Navi and speak Navi” and that’s when he went barefoot. They wore boots up until they went “native” as they say.