The Flexibility of Familial Relationships and the Mohicans as a Dying Race

Despite the fact that the plot of The Last of the Mohicans is moved forward by the pursuit of romantic relationships, many male characters are strongly influenced by and overwhelmingly loyal to their homosocial relationships, specifically those of family.  Chingachgook is largely absent from the second half of the novel, and Hawkeye comes to act as a surrogate father figure to Uncas, repeatedly risking his life in order to save Uncas's beloved. It is Hawkeye, too, who exacts revenge upon Uncas's killer; Chingachgook was not even present. The relationship between Uncas and Hawkeye highlights the flexibility of familial relationships in this novel. Despite Hawkeye's own misgivings about cross-racial relationships, he formed quite a formidable one with Uncas.

This, combined with the Delawares' quick acceptance of Uncas as one of their own, begs the question whether it is all that significant that he was "the last of the Mohicans". Though there was certainly a rich historical heritage lost, the similarities these Mohicans share with other tribes (specifically the Delawares), Hawkeye, and even white European characters seem to highlight the inherent similarities between all as people rather than similarities among a tribe alone. Not to say that the post-French Indian War era was post-racial (that is CERTAINLY not true), but it seems to me that Cooper is hinting at the insignificance of these labels.