Due to the elements of realism incorporated into the film, many people wonder whether the 1990 Western epic Dances With Wolves is based on a true story. In Kevin Costner’s directorial debut, Lieutenant John J. Dunbar leaves behind his life and job as a Union soldier in order to live with the Lakota Nation. Dances With Wolves gained immediate praise and the 1991 Oscar for Best Picture for its compassionate portrayal of Indigenous Americans.
The Dances With Wolves cast includes a number of Indigenous Americans, and many of the characters speak Lakota instead of English, setting it apart from other movies of that time period. Decades later, the discussion still comes up about the origins of the story. The movie possesses traits common in biographical movies, such as attention to detail and a grounded story. Additionally, the characters’ experiences and perspectives drive the plot instead of the action. All of these factors lead people to believe Dances With Wolves came from a true story.
Dances With Wolves Isn’t A True Story (But Is Rooted In History)
People frequently mistake the movie Dances With Wolves for a true story; however, the film is based on the eponymous historical fiction novel by Michael Blake. Despite its fictional story, Dances With Wolves still made use of real historical events, people, and culture. For instance, real Union bases existed on the Kansas-Colorado border at the time of the movie’s plot. Additionally, the Chief Ten Bears was a fictionalization of a real leader from the Civil War period, albeit he led the Comanche Nation, not the Lakota Nation.
Because the filmmakers spent a good amount of time researching the Lakota Nation’s history and way of life, many of the elements shown in Dances With Wolves were accurate as well. The production team incorporated realistic costumes, props, and dialogue in Dances With Wolves – though they only used Lakota’s female-gendered language. The music and dance in this movie also showed the Lakota Nation’s rich culture. All these elements combined helped Dances With Wolves gain praise from Indigenous American communities.
There Was A Real John Dunbar, But Different To Kevin Costner’s Character
Though John Dunbar was a fictional character in Dances With Wolves, a person with that name existed during the same time period as the movie, possessing a shocking number of similarities. According to a newspaper article in The Day, the real John Dunbar lived with the Indigenous peoples of the Great Plains during his childhood years. He also enlisted in the armed forces twice, fighting in the Civil War like his fictional counterpart. Later, he taught Indigenous American languages and cultures at Washburn College in Topeka, Kansas. Though the fictional John Dunbar didn’t live with Indigenous American people until his adulthood, the number of similarities feels too big to be true.
Blake was equally amazed by the coincidences between the real Dunbar and the fictional character. He reportedly borrowed the name from a roster of Kansas Civil War soldiers without knowing anything about the real person. The author also asserted that the sergeant he pulled the last name from didn’t have the first name, John. Interestingly, there’s another weird connection between the real John Dunbar and Dances With Wolves. Michael Blake used the book Plains Indian Raiders by William Nye as source material for his novel, and that nonfiction book pulled from John Dunbar’s missionary father’s books. It’s odd how many elements overlap between fiction and real life.
Dances With Wolves’ Stands With A Fist Was Likely Inspired By Cynthia Ann Parker
While Blake created many Dances With Wolves characters from scratch, Cynthia Ann Parker seemingly inspired the character Stands With A Fist. According to History, Comanche warriors kidnapped Cynthia Ann Parker when she was only nine or ten years old. She lived in the Comanche Nation until the age of 30, having two sons and a daughter with a well-revered Comanche chief named Peta Nocona. After the Texas Rangers kidnapped her and her infant daughter, she tried to readjust to her previous life, but she continually tried to return to the Comanche Nation. They separated her from her sons, leaving them in the Comanche Nation.
The Dances With Wolves book focuses on the Comanche Nation, not the Lakotas, making the connection between the two women more clear. Both Park and Stands With A Fist were White women who lived with an Indigenous American community throughout childhood. They deeply connected with the culture that raised them. One of the biggest differences is that the Lakota didn’t kill Stands With A Fist’s family in the Dances With Wolves movie, whereas the Comanches killed Parker’s family during a raid. Additionally, Parker was kidnapped by the Texas Rangers before the Civil War started. Lastly, Stands With A Fist falls in love with John Dunbar instead of a Lakota man.
How Historically Accurate Is Dances With Wolves?
Many reviewers and Indigenous American people praised Dances With Wolves for its culturally accurate depiction of the Lakotas and Indigenous American people as a whole. Where other movies from the time leaned into stereotypes, this movie put forth an effort to depict Indigenous Americans in a compassionate, humanized way. Oneida actor Graham Greene who played Kicking Bird in Dances With Wolves told UPI that the movie was the most genuine representation of Indigenous American people that he’d ever seen in Hollywood. Despite the high accolades, Dances With Wolves still included historical inaccuracies that deserve attention.
In Dances With Wolves, they replaced the Comanche Nation with the Lakota Nation despite the fact that the book’s entire plotline relied on Comanche history. In reality, the Lakotas had the upper hand against the Pawnees, their long-standing enemy, rather than the other way around as seen in the Dances With Wolves movie. Additionally, the Lakotas reminisce about their historical battles with Spanish colonizers in the movie, a fact that aligned with the Comanche Nation, not the Lakota Nation (via Yale University Press).
Additionally, Kevin Costner’s Civil War epic gets details wrong about the relationships between White people and Indigenous Americans. The movie presents John Dunbar as extremely respectful and positive towards the Lakota community. In the time of Dances With Wolves, Indigenous Americans faced disrespect, cruelty, and violence from White Americans. It’s unlikely that John Dubar would have treated the Lakota people the way he did. The movie also perpetuates the White savior trope since the Lakota people needed Dubar to save them from the colonizers. Though the movie messes up Indigenous American history and has flaws, Dances With Wolves undeniably shifted the depiction of these communities in Hollywood for the better.
Sources: The Day, History, UPI, and Yale University Press
