Reading James Fenimore Cooper's narrative on Indians sounds much like the views that other white men who came before and after him held on the Indians. There is a relationship there, but it is strained and one of convenience. Indians helped the Pilgrims survive, but cautiously and only because they benefitted from helping the new settlers. Even today we still have Indians living on reservations, and the relationship between the Native Americans and the US Government certainly has its faults. 
As for Cooper's time, the Whites will be friends with the Indians as long as they teach them the ways of the land, help them gather food, and remain civil. Yet to the Whites the Indians are still inferior, it is almost as if the Whites see their arrival as a good thing, because now that they are here they may begin to "civilize" the savages. The same relationship exists on the side of the Indians as well. They benefit from the white men by being provided with guns, clothes, and other modern things brought from overseas. As soon as the whitemen overstep boundaries however, the Indians are quick to revert to their "savage" ways. It is a relationship of balance, a relationship that is repeated all the time and works as long as each company keeps to their respective ways and allows the other to do the same.
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