N. C. Wyeth, The Last of the Mohicans, cover illustration, 1919
Objectives
Students will:
understand that the character of Uncas as represented in both James Fenimore Cooper’s novel, The Last of the Mohicans, and the cover image for the book created by N.C. Wyeth are stereotypes.
examine factual evidence from primary and secondary sources about the lives of 18th c. Mahican and Mohegan peoples and compare the realities to the information they gleaned from the book and painting.
create their own more realistic version of Uncas via artwork or written description.
Focusing Statement
Students will examine this image of Uncas from James Fenimore Cooper’s novel, The Last of the Mohicans, for evidence of stereotyping. They will also read primary and secondary sources for more accurate information, and create their own versions of Uncas in words or pictures.
Examining Expressive Content
What do you see?
How would you describe Wyeth’s depiction of Uncas?
Describe the setting in which Wyeth chose to put Uncas.
What decisions did Wyeth make in regard to composition, viewpoint, and size to achieve the desired character?
James Fenimore Cooper wrote The Last of the Mohicans in 1826. The story takes place in 1757, during the French and Indian War, and the man in the image represents Uncas, who, along with his father, are to Cooper the “last of the Mohicans”. Cooper was a very popular writer during his time and this book was read by many. A little over 90 years later, N.C. Wyeth created this painting of Uncas in 1919, to serve as the cover image for a later printing of The Last of the Mohicans.
N. C. Wyeth (1882- 1945), who grew up on a farm in Needham, Massachusetts, is considered one of America’s greatest illustrators. Though Wyeth desired recognition as a serious painter throughout his career, he achieved fame and the bulk of his income from his illustrations for popular adventure novels, advertisements, magazine covers and stories, posters, and murals. His Treasure Island illustrations are considered his masterpiece. He completed hundreds for 25 of the Scribner Classics, The Last of the Mohicans among them. Wyeth learned early on to emphasize the use of dramatic effect in his work and to have personal knowledge of his subjects. As a young artist, he made three trips to the West to work and live among the cowboys and the Navaho people. By age 25, he was heralded as “one of our greatest, if not our greatest, painter of American outdoor life.” Settling down on 16 acres in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, and summering in Port Clyde, Maine, he raised three accomplished visual artists among his five children, the most famous being beloved American painter Andrew Wyeth.
Teaching Plan
Read the excerpt from The The Last of the Mohicans about Cooper’s Uncas. How does he compare to the painting? If you note any differences, why might Wyeth have chosen to make them?
Now examine the following primary and secondary sources and make notes on the realities of the lives of 18th century Mahican and Mohegan people. How were their lives different from what is depicted in the novel and painting?
List the ways in which Wyeth and Cooper stereotyped Uncas. Think about Cooper’s choice of language, the characteristic features that both the artist and writer highlighted, etc. For instance, in the painting consider the expression on Uncas’s face.
Think about Cooper’s title, The “Last” of the Mohicans. Describing certain Native American individuals as being “the last of” was a common phenomenon in the 19th and 20th centuries and in most, if not all, cases these people were not the last of their tribes. As you have seen, Mahicans and Mohegans have been here all along and in fact, the Mohegans gained federal recognition in 1994. Why then, did people of European descent in the 1820’s think that so many Native peoples were vanishing? In areas where they did really “disappear” or seem to, why might this be so?
Create your own image of Uncas to show something more realistic for a Mahican or Mohegan living in the first half of the 18th century. What items or landscape features will you include? Will you keep the same angle? What items of importance or symbols might you put in the picture? Will you include other people? What message will you give? Draw your version of Uncas or provide a written description and be ready to explain how and why your image is different.
