Chingachgook

fictional character

Also known as: Indian John, John Monhegan

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Also called:: John Monhegan or Indian John

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Chingachgook, fictional character, a Mohican chief in four of the novels by James Fenimore Cooper known under the collective title The Leatherstocking Tales—comprising The Pioneers (1823), The Last of the Mohicans (1826), The Pathfinder (1840), and The Deerslayer (1841).

Chingachgook is a lifelong friend of Natty Bumppo, the white frontiersman and hero of the saga. Chingachgook and his son Uncas (who is the last of the Mohicans) frequently help defend the English settlers against hostile attacks by other native tribes and the French. Uncas is eventually killed by a Huron warrior. As an old man, Chingachgook rejects the Moravian faith that he had embraced in his youth, and he dies wearing traditional Mohican regalia.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Kathleen Kuiper.