Early American Historical Fiction and American Indians

In another one of my classes, we are reading two historical fiction novels from the 1820's. The first is Hobomok by Lydia Child. The second is Hope Leslie by Katharine Sedgwick. Both books focus on the early Colonial period and the English settlers relationship to the Indians.
In Hobomok, a love triangle develops between an English girl, a Wampanoag Indian, and an English man. The girl actually marries the Indian, but only because she's deranged (She thinks the English man has died). However, the English mar returns, and the Indian nobly leaves his English wife so she can be together with her true love. It's an interesting take on the role that Indians could take in the new American society. Basically, if they acted as the settlers wanted them too and helped the settlers out, they could possibly become a a part of society, but only as a second class citizen and only as long as there weren't more English or other Europeans who could take their role.
In Hope Leslie, the story revolves around the trials of the eponymous protagonist. Hope is separated from her sister, who is captured by Indians. This novel is even more harsh to the Indians, in that they can't even be considered a part of European society. All they do is ruin lives by their actions. There is a certain attempt at fair portrayal, but it is obvious that the Indians are savages, and nothing can be done except to make them white.
Overall, it's interesting to look at the history of our national and how we first choose to define ourselves in opposition to the American Indian. Both of these works were concerned with creating a national identity for Americans, and both used American Indians to highlight the "good" aspects of our history.