Despite the inquisitive affection that Cooper often displays for Native culture, it is clear that they are intended to be viewed in opposition to the white characters of the story. Their customs are at times horrifically alien to him, yet the recognition of the skills they possess in their own environment gives them an air of comforting approachability: the alarming ‘yells of the savages’2 are contrasted with a realisation that ‘the brutes of these vast wilds were possessed of an instinct nearly commensurate with [Heyward's] own reason’.3
The character of the Native is depicted as inextricably linked to war and masculinity, their whole culture seeming to be defined by hunting and conflict, and tribes who fail to adhere to these attributes are disrespectfully and negatively labeled as ‘women’. Female Natives appear to exist merely in slave-like deference to the warrior males. However, this image is simply not an accurate account of Native American gender roles at the time. The Iroquois Confederacy of tribes, whom Hawk-eye derogatorily refers to as ‘Mingo’ or ‘Maqua’, were in fact matrilineal:
[...] ALTHOUGH THE LEAGUE OF THE IROQUOIS HAD THE APPEARANCE OF A GOVERNMENT CONSISTING EXCLUSIVELY OF MALES, EACH MEMBER OF THAT GOVERNING BODY WAS IN REALITY ANSWERABLE TO THE WOMEN OF HIS MATERNAL FAMILY, WHICH IN FACT CONSISTED ONLY OF ONE FEMALE, THE ‘AGED SENSIBLE’ WOMAN.4
This exaggerated masculinity of the Natives, incorporating themes of authority, security and aggression, can in fact be seen in direct opposition to the feminised, white characters associated with the British army, chiefly Alice, Heyward and Gamut, who reveal a civilised sentimentality, yet also a complete inability to survive on their own in the wild New World. The Natives such as Uncas and Chingachgook remain readily attentive and anticipating of the forest around them:
THE WHITE MAN […] MADE AN