Early American writers struggled to find ways to tell their stories. They blended European and American Indian traditions to create a new way of telling their stories. James Fenimore Cooper wrote a famous novel of Native American literature. It's called The Last of the Mohicans. This book is still widely read today. He influenced Native American culture and storytelling by using elements of American Indian stories. Cooper's book includes the theme of the force of nature and the connection with man. The Poineers by James Fenimore Cooper. Washington Irving influenced Native American literature through supernatural forces. In The Legend of Sleepy Hollow he combined Native American stories as well as Dutch and German stories. This was used to make stories about the supernatural world and the natural world