The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimoore Cooper is one of the most acclaimed and best-selling books ever written about the American frontier. It is and has been hailed as a masterpiece due to its more human characterizations of Native American warriors and tribesmen for that time period. The Last of the Mohicans is seen as the first popular book to portray Native Americans in a more positive manner rather than as rude savages who were single-mindedly determined to kill "the white man" and then proceed to cut off their scalps. However, are all the descriptions of Native Americans in The Last of the Mohicans correct? Or were they blurred and enlarged to fit the basis of this romantic novel about the French and Indian War? The Last of the Mohicans is set in 1757 near Lake George, New York, during the French and Indian War. The premise of this book is about the fall of Fort William Henry and how they affected some of the people connected to the William Henry Massacre. The five major Native American tribes described in this book are the Delaware Indians, Mohicans, Mohawks, and Iroquois. The first two groups and the last two groups are shown in sharp contrast. Delawares and Mohicans are described as peaceful, calm, and gentle Native Americans. While the Mohawk, Iroquois and Huron Native Americans, in addition to being deceitful, are shown as bloodthirsty and vengeful human beings. While many people praise Cooper for incorporating humanizing aspects of Native Americans into his narrative, many people forget to cite him for reducing the Mohawk, Iroquois, and Hurons to be little more than cannibalistic demons. Cooper writes: “More than 2,000 raving savages broke down… middle of paper… Americans, largely because of the prejudices present in that day. Magua turned out to be a liar and was therefore distrusted, especially after he kidnapped Cora and Alice. The hatred was intensified. This is another example of Cooper using unnatural speech to advance his story. The Last of the Mohicans is a great book and has its revolutionary aspects but in essence this book is similar to most historical books from that time period, not properly researched. . The characters are used solely for the author's purpose, with no clear reason as to why these were the characters chosen. Bibliography · The children of Aataentsic: A History of the Huron People to 1660 by Bruce G. Trigger, accessible via books.google.com · A Native American Encyclopedia: History, Culture, and Peoples by Barry M. Pritzker – Page 425 – accessible via books.google.com