Character Analysis
Le Loup Cervier, Le Sumac, Briarthorn, Catamount, and The Panther
These five Indians — all enemies of Deerslayer — resemble each other in their treacherous, cruel behavior and their lack of loyalty to the code of the Indians. Nevertheless, these Indians are part and parcel of Cooper's world of the American frontier; and, in fact, the depiction of these bloodthirsty and villainous inhabitants of the New World helps to explain in part the author's reception abroad. The Europeans saw in portraits, such as these five Mingos, a new and very different side to the American experience. The code of these five Indians, unlike that of Rivenoak, has no favorable side; or, at least, these Mingos have no interest in chivalric manners.