The Last of the Mohicans: Context for the Decline of a Noble People Ayo Awodu College

The Last of the Mohicans is a novel written by James Fenimore Cooper in 1826, set in upper New York wilderness in 1757, the book focuses on the French and Indian War (1754 – 1763). The book follows Alice and Cora Munro, Hawkeye, Chingachgook, Uncas and David Gamut as they attempt to arrive at Fort Willism Henry and the trials they face along the way and after their departure. During this war, both the French and the British used Native American allies in their quest to take control of North America, but the French were more dependent as they were outnumbered in the Northeast frontier areas by the British colonists. The Native Americans potrayed in the text are the Delaware Indians, the Mohicans, the Mohawk, and the Iroquois. The former two groups are painted as good Indians - peaceful, calm, and kind while the latter two are deceitful, bloodthirsty, and vengeful. Though Cooper attempts to paint Native Americans in a more favorable and positive light and show that they are more than just crude savages who enjoy massacring white men and cutting off their scalps, he nevertheless alternatively idealizes and demonizes them.

The Last of the Mohicans is aptly named. It signifies not only the fall of a particular tribe of Native...