I recently watched the movie ''The last of the Mohicans'' from Michael Mann released in 1992 with my historian boyfriend Michel Thévenin, author of the blog Tranchées et Tricornes. He posted two articles linked to the movie: one article about the representation of the techniques of siege war and the other about the redition of the fort William-Henry (both only available in French, but you can use the Google translate installed on the page).
The thing that catch my eye during the viewing of the movie was how Native Americans were represented. The representation is almost uniform according to which European side the Nation is allied to; the main characters (British in the movie) or enemies.
In this movie, the First Nations are shown as allies of the British (Mohawks) or enemies of them (Hurons). In a quite subtile way, that duality is also shown in the clothes the people of the different Natives Americans wear. The enemies (Hurons) are shown wearing almost only the breechcloth and the mitasses. So they are almost naked, making them seem more ''savages and unpredictable .'' On the other hand, the ''good'' allies are almost always wearing a shift over their breechcloth and theirs mitasses tend to be longer. The Mohawks represented this way look more ''civilised'' because their clothes are closer to the Europeans' one. The quotation marks are big because I want to emphase that it does not reflect my personal opinion. I think we do not know the what the Nations were then, and we know very little of the actual dress of period First Nations.
The three heroes of the movie are from the Mohican Nation, I will talk about them in the end of my article.
If the Native Americans clothing in this movie is acceptable from a historical point of view, the tendency of uniformisation of all people of the same Nation according their allegiances is more to have an impact on the narrative than to have an adequate representation of every Nation they represent.
I had almost no idea on how the Huron and the Mohawks were dressed in the 18th century so I made a search for 18th century drawings and paintings of these Nations. I wanted to know if the Michael Mann film was depicting Natives according to the 18th century iconography.
First, let's have a look ay the Hurons, the ''bad guys'' in the movie.
Here are the selected screen shot.
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| Magua and Hurons during the capitulation of fort William Henry |
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| Magua and Hurons in ambush |
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| Hurons in ambush from back |
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| Magua and Hurons about to capture British survivors |
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| Returning to the Huron village with British prisoners |
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| Nathanael presenting himself to the Huron village |
To be fair, the more the Hurons are depicted close to their village, more of them are wearing shifts. The naked representation of the Hurons is more because they were at war almost all of the movie. The more they are into a ''civilian'' context, the more shift they wear. War outfit are supposed to inspire fear of the opponent. That's why the Hurons are almost all the movie shown shirtless. That also make them look more ''primitive'' more ''close to nature''.
How are Hurons depicted in 18th century documents? I only found two sources illustrating the Huron Nation.
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| Hurons of 1710 From the City of Montréal Records |
If this representation is closer to the movie, note that it is about 40 years earlier. The movie ''The last of the Mohicans'' takes place is in 1757 and this engraving is dated 1710.
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| Watercolor representing a Huronne and a Huron vers 1750-1770 From the City of Montréal Records |
This painting is closer to the same time as the siege of Fort William Henry (called fort Georges by the Frenchs). The Hurons shown are located at the Lorette village, near Québec City. (Forget the Huron village in the area of Fort William Henry that is shown in the movie, it is an geographical error)
The man wears a long shift with ruffles, metal jewelry in the ears, the chest' and on the arm. He also wears mitasses and mocassins. His clothing is covered by what can be a blanket but could be a piece of clothing that I am unfamiliar with. That man is visually different from the Huron warrior Magua, who wants the death of ''Grey Hair'' and his family during all the movie.
Second part, I compare the Mohawks of the movie with 18th century representations.
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| Mohawk Chief pledges allegiance to the British King |
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| Mohawks waiting in the fort William Henry |
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| Mohawks waiting in the fort William Henry |
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| Mohawks, British soldiers and civilianson the edge of the du fort William Henry during negotiations of the capitulation |
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Mohawks in the group of people evacuating the fort
In pink: Mohawks
In white: the three Mohicans
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Mohawks in the group of people evacuating the fort
In pink: Mohawks
In white: the three Mohicans
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In the screenshots I have chosen, there is only one shirtless Mohawk visible on the last one, third circle from the right. There are two more scenes that I decided to not include because of their peculiar context. The scene where Mohawks and British pionners play baggataway (ancestor of the Lacrosse game) where all players are shirtless, and the scene were Nathanael sleeps in the same room as the Mohawks and is awoken by British soldiers. Being shirtless is in the first occurence is part of the game and in the other it is a sleeping outfit. Nobody dress the same at night than during the day. Those scenes were not representatives of daily Natives clothes in my mind.
Most of the 18th century illustrations I have found do not describe Mohawks (Or Agniers in French sources) precisely but their Nation Family the Iroquois Confederacy. It is a difficult thing to talk about First Nations especially when it is not a subject well known to me. I know little about the differences of the Nations and Tribes. Thanks To Cathrine Davis to look at my texts for the content and the sentences of this article. Your anthropologic analysis helped me to have a better understanding.
The Iroquois Confederacy was an alliance of 5 Nations and existed as early as the 16th century. Members nations were the Senecas (also called Tsonnontouans ou Sonnont8hronons) , the Cayugas (Cayougas, Goyogouins or Guyohkohnyos) , the Onondagas (Onontagués or Onondagues), the Oneidas ( or Onneiouts), and the Mohawks ( Kanien'keha:ka, Agniers or Maquas). To these five Nations another group joined during the 18th century, officially in 1722, the Tuscaroras ( Touscaroras). These Nations have similar linguistic ( Iroquois speaking) and material caracteristic' but are still a different from one Nation to the other. They built Long Houses and they are matrilineal.
Fun fact: Hurons are also speaking an Iroquoian language but they lived farther away and did not joint the Iroquois Confederacy, so they are considered a different group.
Most of the 18th century pictures I have found describe the Iroquois without specifying their specific Nation.
Another thing I have to say. I have not found the context why those pictures were made in the first place: frighten Europeans or just to inform them? Does the artist was in contact with the tribes he draws or was having description from another person? I have not look for the answer to those question. My goal was to find 18th century images of Amerindians. I think those pictures are the closest look we can have of real 18th century Amerindians. Cathrine Davis wrote me that they are in a book called ''Costumes of the World'' published in the later 18th century. We think the book was meant for entertainment as well as for education.
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| Sauvage Iroquois, 1736? From the City of Montréal Records |
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| Iroquois allant à la découverte, 1739? From the City of Montréal Records |
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| Guerrier Iroquois, 1746? Tiré des Archives de la Ville de Montréal |
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| Grand Chef de guerriers Iroquois, 1744? Tiré des Archives de la Ville de Montréal |
Next paintings are paintings of known Mohawk Chiefs.
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| The Chief Mohawk Thayendanegea or Joseph Brant, painted by Gilbert Stuart, 1786 Wikipedia |
No Mohawks in the movie wears those metal rings or have a feather headdress. In fact, no headdress is visible on any First Nation during the movie.
This portrait is really interesting for many reasons even if it is dated 1710. A delegation of four Native American Chiefs went to London to ask for the help of Queen Anne of England to ally against the French and their Natives Allies. The London population called them ''the four Indians Kings''. They were welcomed as noble delegates and went to the court. Queen Anne commissioned a portrait of each of the four '' Indians Kings''. More information about those paintings into this article , on an ancient exhibition about it.
Of the four ''Indian Kings'' on those portraits, the King of Maquas (Mohawks) is the one with the most tattoos. He just wears a shirt ans a knotted belt around the hips. His mocassins are decorated, it may be pearls or embroidery. He wears a decoration around the ears that look like sheep wool or swan's down. The red blanket was a gift of the Queen Anne who wanted them to be represented as royalty. Timeframe for this painting is the same of the first engravings about the Hurons, it is about forty years in advance of the conflict shown in the ''Last of the Mohicans''.
Lastly: the three Mohicans of the movie. Mohicans are form Algonquin family the same way Mohawks are from Iroquois family. The Mohicans are wearing more or less the same outfit as the Mohawks in the film, despite coming from another Native family.
Their shirts are coloured to make them easily recognizable. They wear long mitasses and a breechcloth.
The only illustration of the Mohican Nation I have found is one of the ''Four Indians Kings'' that the Queen Anne commissioned in 1710.
His saber at the waist and the mace in his hand represent his warrior competences. He has a subtle tattoo on his face. He wears a simple shirt and mocassins.
This is what I wanted to highlight with this article:
I hope that you enjoyed this article! I stepped outside my comfort zone to produce it. A special thank you to Cathrine Davis to help my English mistakes. They were plenty.
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| Sagayenkwaraton, King of Maquas, Iroquois Artiste: John Verselst 1710 Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
Of the four ''Indian Kings'' on those portraits, the King of Maquas (Mohawks) is the one with the most tattoos. He just wears a shirt ans a knotted belt around the hips. His mocassins are decorated, it may be pearls or embroidery. He wears a decoration around the ears that look like sheep wool or swan's down. The red blanket was a gift of the Queen Anne who wanted them to be represented as royalty. Timeframe for this painting is the same of the first engravings about the Hurons, it is about forty years in advance of the conflict shown in the ''Last of the Mohicans''.
Lastly: the three Mohicans of the movie. Mohicans are form Algonquin family the same way Mohawks are from Iroquois family. The Mohicans are wearing more or less the same outfit as the Mohawks in the film, despite coming from another Native family.
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| En avant-plan: les trois Mohicans |
Their shirts are coloured to make them easily recognizable. They wear long mitasses and a breechcloth.
The only illustration of the Mohican Nation I have found is one of the ''Four Indians Kings'' that the Queen Anne commissioned in 1710.
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| Etowaucum, Roi de la Nation de la Rivière, Mohican
Artiste: John Verselst
1710
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This is what I wanted to highlight with this article:
- The different Native Nations of North America are not well known to the public, myself included
- First Nations did not have uniforms, their representations in historical sources tend differ from one source to the other and from one Nation to the other
- The Native Americans shown in the movie ''Last of the Mohicans'' are there to serve the narrative rather than being based on the pictures from the 18th century
I have to mention that the ''Last of the Mohicans'' is better than most Hollywood stereotypes of Natives, showing them wearing fabric instead of leather. Many adopted fabric easily through trades with Europeans.
What I was expecting to find was a representation of Natives wearing pelts to keep them warm during the winter. Maybe it is because it is winter clothes that they were not represented. I feel like I should do an article about fur pelts to deep more that topic.
To finish, I want to share two others Nations that I did not have the opportunity to show above, to underline the diversity of Native clothing!
What I was expecting to find was a representation of Natives wearing pelts to keep them warm during the winter. Maybe it is because it is winter clothes that they were not represented. I feel like I should do an article about fur pelts to deep more that topic.
To finish, I want to share two others Nations that I did not have the opportunity to show above, to underline the diversity of Native clothing!
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| Watercolours representing Abénaquis Aroune 1750-1780 From the City of Montréal Records |
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| Watercolour representing Algonquins Around 1750-1780 From City of Montréal Records |
I hope that you enjoyed this article! I stepped outside my comfort zone to produce it. A special thank you to Cathrine Davis to help my English mistakes. They were plenty.
Mlle Canadienne
