Role of Native Americans in the

Early FoundationsThe Mission

Last of the Mohicans

Film Information• 1986 Film by Roland Joffe • Also known for The Killing

Fields, Fat Man and Little Boy, The Scarlett Letter and the episodes of the new History Channel series, Texas Rising.

• Joffe is nominated for the Oscar for Directing The Killing Fields and The Mission

• The Mission is nominated for several Oscars but wins for Cinematography

Basic StoryBasic Story• The action takes place in South America in

the 18th century. Two great colonial forces are competing…there are the imperialist plunderers, who want to establish a trade in riches and slaves,… there are the missionaries, who want to convert the Indians to Christ.

• Mendoza (Robert De Niro) begins the story as a slave trader who needs forgiveness after he murders his own brother. After a Damascus conversion, he joins the Jesuit priesthood.

• Mendoza and the leader of Jesuit’s Father Gabriel (Jeremy Irons) seek to protect the Guarani people.

Who are the Guarani people?• PRONUNCIATION: gwah-rah-NEES • LOCATION: Paraguay; Brazil • When the Spanish first arrived, many Guaranís helped

them in their wars against other Indian groups. Many Spanish men married Guaraní women which produced the Paraguayans of today.

• Guaraní groups fell under the control of the Spanish and the encomienda system.

• War, conquest, and European diseases have destroyed much of the Guaraní population. The more traditional groups continue to live a lifestyle of simple and basic needs, such as food and shelter. Some of these Guaranís live mainly apart from the cash economy. There is an active trade in basic implements for hunting, fishing, and cooking.

This movie is based on real eventsThis movie is based on real events!• Based on difficulties between the

Guarani people and the Portuguese between the 1630’s and 1750’s .

• Although the film combines a series of histories into 1 film, you can see indication of the Battle of Mborore (1641) the Guarani War of 1754-1756 and various rebellions in-between.

The Jesuits• The Jesuits had become a very

powerful force in Latin America. The Spanish and Portuguese saw the Jesuits as enemies. Spain feared them because their loyalty was to the Catholic Church, and not to Spain. Jesuits, founded by Ignatius Loyola, pledged poverty to help others.

Historical Inaccuracies• The characters of Father

Gabriel and Rodrigo Mendoza are fictional.

• The Jesuits never disobeyed the orders of the Church.

• Jesuits never assisted the Guarani against the Spain/Portugal.

• The Guarani were not as submissive as shown in the film

The WaterfallPuerto Iguazu, Misiones, Argentina

Foz do Iguassu, Parana, Brazil

The Last of the Mohicans

Film Information• 1992 Film by Director

Michael Mann

• Heat, The Insider, Ali, Miami Vice, Public Enemies and Blackhat (2015)

• Won the Academy Award for Best Sound (1992)

• 40 Million dollar budget, 75.5 million NA Box office return.

Last of the Mohicans

• Part of James Fennimore Cooper’s series The Leatherstocking Tales

• The first best selling novel in the United States.

• 1st published in 1826

• Other Books-The Deerslayer, The Pathfinder, The Inland Sea, The Pioneers, The Prairie

The Many Names of Natty Bumpo

• In the Book “The Last of the Mohicans” he is called Hawkeye or La Longue Carabine or Long Rifle

• In the rest of the series he is called, Natty Bumpo

• In the movie, he is called Nathaniel

Basic Story• The story takes place in

1757, during the French and Indian War

• Hawk-eye and his Indian friends come to the rescue of Cora and Alice, the daughters of a British colonel fighting the French and their Native American allies for control over the North American colonies.

Major differences between the movie and the book

• The book is not a sexual escapade

• In Cooper’s book the relationship between the Duncan Heyward and Hawk-eye is not strained, both are willing to give of each other to survive

• There is no rivalry between Heyward and Hawk-eye

Hawk-eye and Chingachgook

• Hawk-eye is the adopted white son of Chingachgook but is much older than portrayed in the movie

Duncan and Alice Sitting in a Tree

• In the book Duncan “fancies” Alice instead of Cora.

• Cora is the dark-haired daughter who is most likely mixed-raced

• Col. Munro and Duncan Heyward both live

• Cora is stabbed to death

• Uncas is killed by Magua but Hawk-eye kills Magua

• Were you surprised by the lack of care and concern towards the Jesuits in the film The Mission? (Consider that Portugal was a Catholic Nation) Why or why not with examples?

• Compare and contrast European attitudes towards Native Americans in the films, The Mission and Last of the Mohicans.

• What are the major similarities in the outcomes of The Mission and Last of the Mohicans.

• Which film did you enjoy more, why? At least 3 specific reasons and explanations.

• Was Chingachgook (The father Mohican) correct that even his frontier white son, Nathanial, would soon find the world too difficult for him? Explain.

• Was the end of the Native American way of life an inevitability due to European settlement? Yes/No with examples?

• Looking at the stereotypes of Native Americans discussed before we began the film viewing…stoic, angry, doomed, find examples of each in the film Last of the Mohicans.

• Consider the end of the film, The Last of the Mohicans, the film was released in 1992, describe at least 3 instances that filmmakers may have added or changed to better relate to a modern audience with modern knowledge of the outcomes of Native Americans.