Athena Aghaei
History 1700-021
Ken C. Hansen
Dances with Wolves
Dances with Wolves gives viewers a look into what life may have been like in the 1860's
for United States soldiers post Civil War. It also shows what the lifestyle of the Sioux Indians
may have been like at that time. I will start with soldier's risk of amputation from wounds during
this point in history. "The limbs of soldiers are in as much danger from the ardor of young
surgeons as from the missiles of the enemy" (Chisholm).
Three quarters of the operations performed in the Civil War were amputations of one
form or another. Sometimes these surgeries were performed without any type of anesthesia.
Patients also would often experience painful sensations in the area of the removed limb, so
amputation was highly feared (Chisholm).This leads the point, the beginning of the movie is
quite accurate when Lieutenant John Dunbar overhears the decision to amputate his foot. He
flees to avoid the operation. However, when he flees on horseback, he attracts gunfire. In my
research of the accuracy of the weapons available and preferred at that time, the guns fired at him
would most likely have hit their mark.
The most favored gun of the time was called a Napoleon. This gun was made available to
soldiers in 1857 and was most effective at about 250 yards or less. A rifle gun was also widely
used and had a longer range. The accuracy of the rifle was about 2,300 yards or less (Weapons of
the American). Either of these weapons should have easily been able to reach John Dunbar. I
guess he got lucky!
John survives this attack, but remains in the Army and begs to keep his foot. They allow
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it and he is then given the opportunity to choose which Fort he would like to be stationed at. He
chooses Fort Sedgwick so he can see the frontier before it is taken over by the white man. He is
led to Fort Sedgwick by a guide who is quite rude and vulgar, but the driver believes his
behavior is amusing. It turns out that this was quite common in real life as well.
It is said that the stage-drivers were a rough and jolly group of men. They were known
for being loud and profane. Some of the drivers would get quite drunk while driving. Drunk
enough to cause worry that one may fall right off the coach! The drivers were trusted, however
and always seemed to be able to hold the reins, drive around a curve, or make a sharp turn as
skillfully as a sober man (Dick 327).When John Dunbar and his driver/guide arrive at Fort
Sedgwick, it is completely abandoned. His guide leaves and John is alone. After spending some
time at the Fort, John notices that a wolf has started watching him from a distance. The wolf
moves closer to John each day.
My research taught me that man started domesticating wolves 12,000 years ago. I also
learned that the difference in DNA between a dog and a white wolf is only 0.2 %( McCarthy).
This leads me to believe that the chances of creating a relationship with a wild wolf are actually
quite possible. John continues his repairs and running of the abandoned Fort. Eventually some
Sioux Indians come across him and try to steal his horse. John frightens them away, and who can
blame the Sioux for being nervous of the white man? Constant broken promises, unresolved
issues and taking over tribal lands brought much division and direct conflict with the United
States between 1862 and 1877 (Rasmussen 487).
After two unsuccessful attempts to steal John's horse, the Sioux start to believe that this
lone white man may have special medicine. They decide to make contact and try to communicate
with him. John and the Sioux mimic a buffalo, (tantanka, as the Sioux called it); to see if anyone
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has seen the buffalo. This is the time of year the Sioux will do one of their 2 buffalo hunts.
The buffalo is an essential part of the Sioux lifestyle and survival. The Sioux depended
on the buffalo for food, clothing, shelter, containers, and tools. The meat was preserved as
pemmican (sun-dried strips of meat pounded together with buffalo fat and marrow and fruit
paste).The hides of the buffalo were used for making tipi covers, shields, cord, rope and clothing.
Robes were made from the hide and the buffalo robe was also used for bedding. Women sewed
with buffalo sinew and the horn was used for spoons, bows and other items.
Tools, like hoes and scrapers, were made from the bones of the buffalo. Even the dung
was used for fuel and absorbent packing for baby cradles. The hooves made glue. Rawhide
containers for ritual objects, meat, and clothing were also a use of the buffalo. Nothing went to
waste (Fowler 146-7).The uses of buffalo were shown in many different ways in the movie, and I
feel the film gives a very accurate portrayal of the importance of the buffalo to the Sioux people.
The movie shows meat hanging to dry, tools being used that had been made from bone
and buffalo robes that also doubled as bedding. John Dunbar becomes quite close to the Sioux
people and begins sleeping and even hunting with them. They hunt on horseback with bows and
arrows, and John uses his gun. In real life the Sioux generally used arrows, as ammunition was
quite expensive, but John had a large stash, so I guess we can call that accurate.
The Sioux would depend almost solely on their sense of smell to creep up downwind of
the buffalo. The Sioux would hide, surrounding the animals while they ate. At the signal the
Sioux charged out, whooping and gathering closer and closer around the buffalo, shooting them
as they fled. After the kill, the women would move in with cries of thankfulness. The hides were
stripped and the meat began to be taken back to camp. Back at the camp, they enjoyed a
celebration with songs for the most successful hunters and for the boys who had made their first
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kill. There was a little dancing and a lot of eating.
After the robes were tanned, painted and worked with dyed quills or trade beads, the
finest one of all was taken to the top of the hill and left as a gift of gratitude offered to their
brother, the buffalo, because so many had died to feed the Sioux, who would, in turn, die and
feed the grasses (Sandoz 63-7). Only a small amount of this was shown in the movie, but what
was shown was relatively accurate. The only thing missing from the actual hunting was the
surrounding of the buffalo. They seemed to ride next to the animals instead.
There is a white woman that lives among the Sioux called Stands with Fist, who is in
mourning for her husband. In the movie her Indian father, the man who found her when she was
little is the one who decides when she will come out of mourning. The research I did explained
the mourning customs for women were to loosen and cut their hair. They also stripped
adornments from their clothing. They would give away personal items as a sign of sacrifice for
the dead (Boone).
These customs in no way were followed or mentioned in the movie, and I could find no
evidence of a father being in charge of the mourning period for a woman. I have discovered that
the Sioux people have what is called a matrilineal society. Matrilineal clans are comprised of
individuals who believe they are descended from the same ancestor and that the genealogical
connection is through the female line and an individual belongs to the clan of his or her mother.
That person's father belongs to another clan, the clan of his mother.(Boon)
This is opposed to patrilineal clans, which are comprised of individuals who believe they
are descended from the same ancestor and that the genealogical connection is through the male
line; thus, an individual belongs to the clan of his or her father (Fowler168-173). I saw a small
amount of evidence supporting the matrilineal clan being what the Sioux believe. The husbands
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did seem to take council with their wives for important decisions, so I could call that a somewhat
accurate point of view for the movie. In the movie, John Dunbar, (who receives the name Dances
with Wolves), wants to marry Stands with Fist. When word gets out around the clan that they
love each other, her father tells her she will mourn no more. As the Sioux said in the movie they
are Matrilinear society
At that time Dances with Wolves is told he must give many gifts to Stands with Fist's
family. Everyone in the village helps him and he leaves the gifts outside her families’ tipi,
knowing if the gifts are gone in the morning his offer has been accepted. Dances with Wolves
knows that the people may be playing a trick on him, but he plays along, not willing to risk
losing Stands with Fist.
The only information I could find about gift giving for marriage was actually about
courting a girl. If a boy wanted to court a girl, he would leave a gift for a maiden. This gift was
usually a fine horse left outside the lodge and if it was led away and added to the family herd, he
knew his suit met with at least a little favor (Sandoz 75).
There is no definite story about where the tipi came from, but all the well-known tipidwelling tribes came to the plains in the last few hundred years. The Plains Indian tipi is different
from other conical dwellings because it has adjustable smoke flaps. The smoke flaps combined
with the liner curtains on the inside, help control air drafts that draw out smoke from the almostconstant wood fires that were a daily part of tipi life.
The Sioux tipis were traditionally painted and decorated on the outside. Inside were
necessary furnishings, including buffalo blankets for bedding (Hungrywolf). The movie was
definitely accurate about the living conditions of a tipi. They held just the necessities and had
fires and a smoke flap. The children even joke about closing the smoke flap to force the newly
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married couple out of their tipi.
Everyone worked in the Sioux village. The women carried wood tied in bundles on their
backs. Wood was always kept on hand and they were careful not to let it deplete because when
other work needed to be done, they may go five or six days without gathering. But when they
had time, they were gathering (Hungrywolf 6, 20). I don't recall seeing much gathering of wood
in the movie, but every member of the tribe seemed busy all the time.
When Dances with Wolves and Stands with Fist were married they immediately started
trying to have a baby. I'm not sure how the Sioux could manage birth control, but that ability was
implied in the movie. It also makes sense not to have children too close together if you may need
to leave quickly. Too many small children would be quite a burden while moving from one camp
to the next. I could not find evidence to support whether birth control options existed or not.
In the movie Stands with Fist tells the story of how her name was given. There was a
woman in the village that did not like her and called her bad names. The woman would
sometimes beat her. One day the woman was calling the young woman these bad names, so
Stands with Fist stood up and punched her in the face, knocking her down. She then asked if
anyone else wanted to call her bad names. While this is a fun story, it doesn't seem very realistic.
A Sioux maiden saw modesty, moderation and poised reserve the approved pattern of life all
around her.
The Sioux woman learns very early that courtesy is making others feel pleasant and warm
as with the sunlight upon them. Face must be saved but first of all the face of others. She learns
“If one shames himself by rudeness to you, then you must make yourself seem to deserve it all,
and more” (Sandoz 89-90). This philosophy leads me to believe a girl punching a woman in the
face is quite unlikely in reality.
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When it is time for the Sioux to move to the winter camp, Dances with Wolves realizes
his journal has been left behind at the fort. He rushes to retrieve it, finding the fort occupied with
U.S. soldiers. They see him in his Indian clothing and start shooting at him. They take his horse
down and capture him. He awakens to charges of desertion and they accuse him of being a
traitor, telling him he's going to hang unless he will be a scout for them and help them find the
Indians.
Dances with Wolves refuse and treason is a crime you can still be put to death for, so this
situation is quite accurate. (The Constitution of the USA). The reason is that whites , who
befriended Indians( especially military officers that had seemingly abandoned their post) were
treated as a traitor in the film and a traitor can be sentenced to death in reality. Dances with
Wolves aka John Dunbar is taken away to be put to trial. Of course many soldiers were of a mind
to believe that the only good injun is a dead injun, and they abuse him along the way.
Some of the Sioux sense something is wrong and goes after him. They manage to rescue
him, killing four soldiers in the process, and then take him to the winter camp. Dances with
Wolves know they will come after him. They killed four soldiers! So he decides to leave with
Stands with Fist to start a new life, leading danger away from the Sioux.
At the end of the film, you see the army getting near to the camp with a Crow Indian
scout helping them to find the Sioux. I feel this is very accurate because scouts were often used
to find other tribes. Scouts wore moccasins and used their own horses but were issued a uniform
and a repeating carbine rifle. Scouting also provided a man with extra rations for his family and
he could keep horses and other property seized from the enemy (Fowler 67).
Dances with Wolves did a very good job portraying the lives, emotions, and hardships
the Sioux people went through. I have learned quite a bit about post Civil War United States.
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Works Cited
Boone, Dan. "Customs & Ceremonies of the Sioux Indians." EHow. Demand Media, 28
May 2011. Web. July 2012. <http://www.ehow.com/info_8503928_customsceremonies-sioux-indians.html>.
Chisholm, Julian John. "Maimed Men - Life and Limb: The Toll of the American Civil
War." U.S National Library of Medicine. U.S. National Library of Medicine, 14
June 2012. Web. July 2012.
<http://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/lifeandlimb/maimedmen.html>.
Dick, Everett Newfon. The Story of the Frontier: A Social History of the Northern
Plains and Rocky Mountains from the Earliest White Contacts to the Coming of
the Homemaker. New York: Tudor Pub., 1941. Print.
Fowler, Loretta. The Columbia Guide to American Indians of the Great Plains. New
York: Columbia UP, 2003. Print.
Hungrywolf, Adolf. The Tipi: Traditional Native American Shelter. Summertown, TN:
Native Voices Book Pub., 2006. Print.
Johnson, Sandy. The Book of Elders: The Life Stories of Great American Indians.
[San Francisco, Calif.]: HarperSanFrancisco, 1994. Print.
McCarthy, Jennifer. "Jennifer McCarthy - World Class Dog Training: Wolf Genetics."
Jennifer McCarthy - World Class Dog Training: Wolf Genetics. N.p., n.d. Web.
July 2012. <http://jmdogtraining.com/html/services/wolf-genetics.html>.
Rasmussen, R. Kent. American Indian Tribes. Pasadena, CA: Salem, 2000. Print.
Sandoz, Mari. These Were the Sioux. New York: Hastings House, 1961. Print.
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The Constitution of the United States. "Treason Against the United States." The New
York Times. The New York Times, 25 Jan. 1861. Web. July 2012.
<http://www.nytimes.com/1861/01/25/news/treason-against-the-unitedstates.html?pagewanted=all>.
"Weapons of the American Civil War." Weapons of the American Civil War. The Civil
War Society's "Encyclopedia of the Civil War and Mark M. Boatner's "Civil
War Dictionary.", 16 Feb. 2002. Web. July 2012.
<http://www.civilwarhome.com/weapons.htm>.
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