hawkeye and the last of the mohicans

rain. an evening of rain. the sound of rain gurgling in the drainpipes. neighbours chatting with my children. asking about school. i value these moments. inconsequential as they are when judged by the span of a lifetime. each carries colour and form and weight of a kind not easily measured. reassuring in their familiarity. comforting in the inner security they carry.

speaking of comfort, last night i watched the last chapter in an old tv series now available on three dvds, each containing four chapters. i last saw this program as a boy new to canada from england. the series was entitled, “hawkeye and the last of the mohicans”.

Based on the writings of James Fenimore Cooper, this exciting frontier adventure series was filmed almost entirely in Canada from 1957 to 1958 utilizing authentic outdoor settings and carefully observed period detail. the scenery was rugged and for an english boy unused to forests and wilderness, breathtaking and realistic. even the canoes themselves are beautiful to look at.

The plots were somewhat similar in that the co lead character Nat Cutler, known as Hawkeye, with his faithful Indian companion Chingachgook, the last of the Mohican tribe, fights to protect settlers against the raiding Huron Indians or more often against any native group with an upstart warrior who rebels against the chief of that tribe.

interestingly it isn’t quite as politically incorrect as i had anticipated but by the same token, there is not one native person in the cast - even among the extras!
while not entirely accurate historically, the series showed a white man working with respect alongside a native person whose insights and woodlore and wisdom were respected and often served to solve problems in the stories.

it’s nice to go back and revisit little pieces of your childhood, if only to determine the effect they had on you then, compared to the effect they have you on you as an adult. i know that we are often disappointed when we see or revisit something that at the time seemed extraordinary or much bigger or more special. in this case, i was rewarded with a good tv series that has stood most of the test of time.