How the Other Half Lives

Dances With Wolves

Anthony Johlie

                                                    Dances With Wolves Final

     The film Dances With Wolves was historically accurate. It showed how the Americans drove the Native Americans slowly westward and into reservations by killing millions of buffalo, just to sell their fur and tongs for money. This was a huge loss for Native Americans food and clothing supply. It also shows how friendly some tribes can be when they come across someone by themselves.

     First, the americans would kill all of the buffalo in the area that the native americans live near so that the United States Army could take over that land without any trouble. They would kill the buffalo for their tongs, and fur. Once they are done with the buffalo the N.A's cannot do anything with them because it is just the carcass left. For example, "In 1872-73 three million buffalo perished and by 1874 the hunters moved so far south that the Treaty of Medicine Lodge Creek was a dead letter" (Smallbone). The N.A's depend so much on the buffalo that they cannot stay on the land without any buffalo in the are. Once they leave the U.S can take over their old land because it was free land. In D.W.W Kevin Costner and some sioux members were hunting and found a field full of dead, and skinned buffalo. The Sioux tribe was then forced to relocate their village, just like what had happened in 1873.

    Second, N.A were more understandable and respectful towards lost or lonely travelers. Like in D.W.W Kevin Costner is alone at his post. When he first sees the Natives they were afraid of each other,  but eventually he became good friends with the leader of one Sioux tribe. They made a couple trades, then eventually he was living in the tribe and married one of the native americans. The Sioux tribe show great human compassion for one others, For example, "He lived on the meat of dead animals and rattle snakes until he regained enough strength to walk and was befriended by some Sioux Indians, who had great respect for anyone who survived a bear attack" (Dary). Even though this traveler had just killed a few Indians before he met the Sioux, they still cared and treated him as if he was one of them. Instead of the Indians killing Costner when they first met they gave him a chance and it worked out well for both of them. They were able to defeat the pawnee in battle, with the help of Costner and his rifles. If they didn't become friends, the Sioux could've lost that battle.

     In conclusion, the movie Dances With Wolves was an accurate film. It showed that not all Indians are as aggressive as people tend to think. It also showed how the U.S secretly moved the Native Americans into reserves by killing off millions of buffalo. The buffalo provided many resources for the Native Americans, such as clothing, food, and it helped build their huts.

                                                          Works Cited

Smallbone, Chris. "How The West Was Lost." History Today 56.4 (2006): 42. MAS Ultra - School Edition. Web. 12 Jan. 2015.

Dary, David. "Mountain Man, Heal Thyself." American History 43.5 (2008): 56. MAS Ultra - School Edition. Web. 12 Jan. 2015.