Chingachgook was a fictional character

Fictional character

A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...

 in four of James Fenimore Cooper

James Fenimore Cooper

James Fenimore Cooper was a prolific and popular American writer of the early 19th century. He is best remembered as a novelist who wrote numerous sea-stories and the historical novels known as the Leatherstocking Tales, featuring frontiersman Natty Bumppo...

's five Leatherstocking Tales

Leatherstocking Tales

The Leatherstocking Tales is a series of novels by American writer James Fenimore Cooper, each featuring the main hero Natty Bumppo, known by European settlers as "Leatherstocking," 'The Pathfinder", and "the trapper" and by the Native Americans as "Deerslayer," "La Longue Carabine" and...

, a lone Mohican

Mohican

-Native Americans:* Mahican , a Native American tribe who lived in and around the Hudson Valley* Mohegan, a functional confederation of several branches of Native Americans during the 16th century and the beginning of the 17th century...

 chief and companion of the series' hero Natty Bumppo

Natty Bumppo

Nathaniel "Natty" Bumppo is the protagonist of James Fenimore Cooper's pentalogy of novels known as the Leatherstocking Tales.- Fictional biography :...

. Chingachgook married Wah-ta-Wah who bore him a son Uncas, but she died young. Uncas, at his birth "last of the Mohicans" grew to manhood but was killed in a battle with renegade Magua

Magua

Magua is a fictional Huron Indian chief and the main villain in the novel The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper. This historical novel is set at the time of the French and Indian War...

. Chingachgook dies as an old man in the novel The Pioneers and so is the actual Last of the Mohicans, having outlived his son.

Chingachgook is said to have been modeled after a real-life wandering Mahican basket maker and hunter named Captain John. The fictional character, occasionally called John Mohegan in the series, was an idealized embodiment of the traditional noble savage

Noble savage

The term noble savage , expresses the concept an idealized indigene, outsider , and refers to the literary stock character of the same...

. The French

French people

The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...

 often refer to Chingachgook as “Le Grand Serpent”, the Great Snake, because he understands the winding ways of men's nature and he can strike a sudden, deadly blow.

In the initiation ritual of the Order of the Arrow

Order of the Arrow

The Order of the Arrow is the national honor society of the Boy Scouts of America . It uses American Indian-styled traditions and ceremonies to bestow recognition on scouts selected by their peers as best exemplifying the ideals of Scouting. The society was created by E. Urner Goodman, with the...

, a program of the Boy Scouts of America

Boy Scouts of America

The Boy Scouts of America is one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with over 4.5 million youth members in its age-related divisions...

, the Legend of the Order borrows the character of Chingachgook from Cooper's novels, and casts Chingachgook in the role of the Order's sole founder. The character of Uncas, son of Chingachgook, is cast as the original propagator the Order. Because the Order was founded in eastern Pennsylvania, the two characters are recreated as members of the Unami Clan of the Delaware

Delaware River

The Delaware River is a major river on the Atlantic coast of the United States.A Dutch expedition led by Henry Hudson in 1609 first mapped the river. The river was christened the South River in the New Netherland colony that followed, in contrast to the North River, as the Hudson River was then...

 (Lenni Lenapé), rather than as members of the Mohican.

Portrayals in Film and Television

The very first film portrayal of Chingachgook was by Wallace Reid

Wallace Reid

Wallace Reid was an actor in silent film referred to as "the screen's most perfect lover".-Early life:Born William Wallace Reid in St...

 in a 1913 film version of The Deerslayer. Bela Lugosi

Béla Lugosi

Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó , commonly known as Bela Lugosi, was a Hungarian actor of stage and screen. He was best known for having played Count Dracula in the Broadway play and subsequent film version, as well as having starred in several of Ed Wood's low budget films in the last years of his...

 played Chingachgook in two German silent films, Lederstrumpf, 1. Teil: Der Wildtöter und Chingachgook (Leatherstocking 1: The Deerslayer and Chingachgook) and Lederstrumpf, 2. Teil: Der Letzte der Mohikaner (Leatherstocking 2: The Last of the Mohicans), both filmed in 1920. Chingachgook, played by Gojko Mitic

Gojko Mitic

Gojko Mitić is a Serbian director, actor, stuntman, and author. He lives in Berlin....

, was the main character of a popular East German Western

Western (genre)

The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...

, Chingachgook the Great Serpent (1967), based on Cooper's novels. Jay Silverheels

Jay Silverheels

Jay Silverheels was a Canadian Mohawk First Nations actor. He was well known for his role as Tonto, the faithful American Indian companion of the Lone Ranger in a long-running American television series. -Early life:...

, who played Tonto

Tonto

Tonto may mean:* Tonto, a band of Apache native Americans.* Tonto, the fictional sidekick to the Lone Ranger.* "Tonto", a song by the American math rock band Battles, from their album Mirrored.** "Tonto+", the EP centered around said song....

 on The Lone Ranger

The Lone Ranger (TV Series)

The Lone Ranger is an American western television series starring Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheels as Tonto. The live-action series initially featured Gerald Mohr as the episode narrator...

, played Chingachgook in the 1953 film version of The Pathfinder. Lon Chaney, Jr.

Lon Chaney, Jr.

Lon Chaney, Jr. , born Creighton Tull Chaney, was an American character actor. He was best known for his roles in monster movies and as the son of famous silent film actor, Lon Chaney...

 played Chingachgook in the 1957 TV series Hawkeye and the Last of the Mohicans. In the BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 miniseries The Last of the Mohicans

The Last of the Mohicans (1971 series)

The Last of the Mohicans is a 1971 BBC serial, based on James Fenimore Cooper's novel The Last of the Mohicans.It was shown during the Sunday tea-time slot on BBC1, which at that time often put on faithful adaptations of classic novels aimed at a family audience...

and The Pathfinder, Chingachgook was played by John Abineri

John Abineri

John Abineri was an English actor.Born in London, he attended the Old Vic drama school and described himself as "Well educated from the age of five to eighteen"...

. Most recently, Chingachgook has been played by Ned Romero

Ned Romero

Ned Romero is an American actor and opera singer who has appeared in television and film.Romero was born in Franklin, the seat of St. Mary Parish in South Louisiana, the son of Anna and Sidney Romero. His ancestry is Chitimacha Native American, as well as Spanish and French...

 in the TV versions of Last of the Mohicans (1977) and The Deerslayer (1978), by Russell Means

Russell Means

Russell Charles Means is an Oglala Sioux activist for the rights of Native American people. He became a prominent member of the American Indian Movement after joining the organisation in 1968, and helped organize notable events that attracted national and international media coverage...

 in the 1992 film adaptation of The Last of the Mohicans

The Last of the Mohicans (1992 film)

The Last of the Mohicans is a 1992 historical epic film set in 1757 during the French and Indian War and produced by Morgan Creek Pictures. It was directed by Michael Mann and based on James Fenimore Cooper's novel of the same name, although it owes more to George B. Seitz's 1936 film adaptation...

, by Rodney A. Grant

Rodney A. Grant

Rodney Arnold Grant is an American actor.Grant, a Native American, was raised on the Omaha Reservation in Macy, Nebraska. He is probably most well known for his role as "Wind In His Hair" in the 1990 film Dances with Wolves...

 in the 1994 TV series Hawkeye

Hawkeye (TV series)

Hawkeye is a television series, airing in syndication for one season during 1994-1995, and produced by Stephen J. Cannell. The series was filmed in North Vancouver and Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada....

and by Graham Greene

Graham Greene (actor)

Graham Greene is a Canadian actor who has worked on stage, and in film and TV productions in Canada, England and the United States.-Early life:...

in the 1996 TV version of The Pathfinder.