MJ+Last+of+the+Mohicans-

Merrick Johansen 13 August 2009 Mr. Rowells AP US History // The Last of the Mohicans // British and French colonists’ relationship with Native Americans varied depending upon the intimacy of the two groups interacting. With the two societies interacting as a whole, the relationship is strictly for mutual benefit with a strong underlying sense of racism and discrimination. When individuals, such as Hawkeye, are taken from the colonists’ society and introduced to individuals, like Chingachgook, they tend to bond and learn to forget each other’s racial differences. Because of the assumption that the white man is dominant over all other races, and that belief is installed into all but a few of the Europeans, the Native Americans are not treated as equals. Colonists were told stories of the “barbaric” and “primitive” Indians but not all tribes are like that. All of the tribes were grouped into one horrific, uneducated race and that is the basis of all stereotypes. In the colonists’ culture, interaction with Native Americans was limited and strictly enforced. It was unheard of for white colonists and Native Americans to have a relationship, especially white women and Native American men. Had Cora and Uncas decided to get married and raise a family, there is little chance of them being able to integrate into the Colonist society and the Indians would likely have mixed views on the subject of interracial relationships, depending on the tribe. Relations between these two very different cultures were tense and generally hostile. Regardless of this racist view of the natives, when a white person meets a peaceful Native American and the two interact, it is possible for the two to become friends. One of the best examples of this is the strong friendship between Hawkeye and Chingachgook. They come from two different worlds, have different backgrounds, and share only one thing, they are both humans. Another great example of a functional interracial relationship is Uncas and Cora. Cora comes from a wealthy white family which is the exact opposite of Uncas who is an Indian boy raised in the woods. By the end of the book though, Uncas practically sacrifices himself in an attempt to save her.Without the cultural binds that separate them, the British and French colonists and the Native Americans are able to get along. With the racist white colonists and cultural boundaries, these two cultures would never be able to get along with each other. Individual relationships of colonists and Native Americans were the only true hope of these two societies’ peace.