James Fenimore Cooper's Influence On Native American Literature

The normal life of Native Americans in early America was pretty low key. They were the only people in Northern America until the end of the 15th century. Soon after, in the 16th and 17th centuries, many people from Europe traveled to America. This caused many problems for the American Indians. The European diseases and weapons caused many deaths among the Native Americans. They were abused by the newcomers who stole their land and treated them badly. There were wars between Indian tribes that caused injury and death. Before the Europeans arrived, there were other problems like floods and animal attacks that caused death. This type of literature is a transition was changing to the oral tradition before the Europeans arrived to America. Storytelling was an important way for Native Americans to understand the world around them and help them understand their past. Native Americans of all the tribes passed stories down generation to generation through their words and songs known as oral tradition. Stories were a way to pass their tribal history, customs and the struggles they

Early American writers had struggled to find ways to tell their stories. They blended European and American Indian traditions to create a new way to tell their stories. James Fenimore Cooper wrote a famous novel of Native American Literature. It is called The Last of the Mohicians. This book is still read widely today. It influenced Native American culture and storytelling by using the elements of American Indian stories. Cooper’s book includes the theme of the power of nature and the link man. The Poineers by James Fenimore Cooper. Washington Irving influenced Native American Literature by supernatural forces. In The Legend of Sleepy Hollow he combined American Indian stories and also Dutch and German stories. This was used to make the stories about the supernatural world and the natural world