Analysis of Dances With Wolves #2

          After the movie Dances With Wolves came out in the 1990's, the whole Native nations had shown a different side to them to Americans that impressed them greatly and now have a completely different aspect towards them. Films that were produced before Dances With Wolves that had given Americans the wrong impression on Native Americans seeing them as "dumb" in movies but after watching Dances With Wolves they had a new prospective on them. Throughout the film there was a reoccurring theme that was shown in the simplest but the most significant scenes was pathos. Pathos defined to appeal to emotion in sensory images, music, etc. is shown through the landscape throughout First lieutenant Dunbar adventure in the native nation. The uplifting and lightening music when Two Socks kept following Dunbar and Dunbar eventually getting his name Dances With Wolves by the Natives it appealed to the audience that Dunbar had a special connection to that wolf. Towards the end of the film when Dunbar gets taken by the American soldiers Two Socks follows him but gets shot down by the soldiers while sorrow music fulfills the emotions in the audience. In the Native culture it was a ritual to dance around the fire which Dunbar wasn't used to and found quite unusual to him but since being around the Natives for a certain amount of time it eventually became a ritual to him as well. Pathos was present in this specific scene because the beauty of it all was so emotionally appealing. This film does a great job portraying the inspiration with beauty in nature. An example is shown in the scene where they come across thousands of buffalo roaming the landscape and a sigh of glory overcame their faces. Before this symbolic scene the hunters from the tribe had found buffalo that were killed by the Americans. During this time the Americans and all Native nations had a lot of mis communication especially when it came to the killing of animals. As they saw the skinned buffalo laying there in the fields they became angry that people would just leave these could of been useful buffalos but instead put them to waste. The buffaloes mean a lot to the Natives. There's no part of the buffalo that goes to waste using the fur for clothes, the bones for tools, the meat for food, etc.

          The transformation of Dunbar becoming a member of the Sioux Tribe was a slow but noticeable transition starting with when one of the members from the tribe found Dunbar's hat in the valley. Throughout the film there are several scenes after showing the trading between First Lieutenant Dunbar and the Wind In His Hair giving him his ceremonial of chest armor. Dunbar wearing his coat from his uniform traded the the jacket for the chest armor symbolizing the becoming of a powerful friendship. Towards the end of the film where Dunbar gets taken from the American soldiers he was fully dressed like an Native American and questioned them why he was dressed this way. After realizing his life belonged to the Sioux Tribe he then turned his back on his American soldiers helping the very last fight in the film. When getting an invite to stay the night, Dunbar catches Kicking bird(Stands With A Fist's Father) and his wife making love to one another and Dunbar eventually recognizing that making live to each other is part of the human nature. For a long time Americans thought Native's were so different and nothing like them at all from the films before Dances With Wolves. Since this movie has been out for over 10 years Americans have gave Native Americans a new prospective on who they are,  respecting them as human beings.

Analysis of Dances With Wolves

          In the film Dances With Wolves, First lieutenant John J. Dunbar, a soldier who was badly wounded in the American Civil War decided he wanted to do something more with his life. Dances With Wolves triggered back to the 1860's where a lot of soldiers including Dunbar struggled with severe post-traumatic stress caused by awful experiences seen throughout the war. In a scene shown in the film, First Lieutenant Dunbar was severely injured choosing to try and commit suicide rather than have his leg amputated. During that scene with Dunbar riding his horse, he did a christ pose spreading his arms out wide being an easy target to shoot at. He had sacrificed his life ending up surviving his suicide riding through the Confederate front line he was awarded bravery for his appearance as well as picking his own military base in which he can store his supplies and giving him personal shelter. After settling down in at his new post in the western frontier he began to rebuild the abandoned loft. During his time at the post he would observe his thoughts into a daily dairy. Dunbar started questioning why other soldiers weren't joining him but he unfortunately didn't know that the wagon driver by the name of Timmons who took him to the frontier was killed by the native americans who came across him on his way back to Fort Hays. He would write in his dairy the reasoning why soldiers weren't coming but with the death of Timmons there was no one to tell them where Dunbar was. No help from Major Fambrough for committing suicide after awarding Dunbar for his bravery it prevented the soldiers into not knowing where Dunbar was located.

       

          The Pawnee Indians known to dress in ceremonial clothing were a violent tribe scalping their enemies as a symbol showing that they conquered them in which they did when they killed Timmons. Shortly before the killing of Timmons, a Sioux member known as Wind in His Hair found Dunbar at his post in which he tried stealing Dunbar's horse several times. The Wind in His Hair informed the rest of his tribes that there was an American living on their land and stating the fact that Americans don't appreciate anything they do or what they wear. Dunbar finally decided to go find the Sioux Tribe dressing in his uniform symbolizing civilization and preparation to fight. On his journey through the lands he came upon this women alone and hurt. In this scene it shows pathos where he is saving a women and how it makes him heroic. Usually holding the flag like he did when finding the women was expressing the power and dominance he had over everyone else on that land. He rapped the women's arm in the flag ripping it into pieces symbolizing that this wounded women is more important than his country's flag. These specific scenes in Dances With Wolves each have their own significance for symbolizing something so small that viewers wouldn't recognize.

Native American Tribes

          The Cherokee Nation was established in the early 1450’s and every since then they have been recognized for their cultural and social developments. They’re usually found in the eastern and southeastern regions of the United States which were actually the first to inhabit the location before it became present day states including North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, etc. Growing several crops including corn, beans, squash, along with sunflowers and crafting baskets and pottery are frequent hobbies that members do to stay active. Also known to be the one of the largest tribes throughout the world the Cherokee tribe consists of around 288,000 members and are divided into 7 clans who live in permanent villages along rivers and streams. John Ross was the first elected principal chief to lead the Cherokee Nation as well as the senate, and a house of representative. The first women to ever get voted in to be chief of the Cherokee Nation was Wilma Mankiller, a women who who was the principal chief from 1985 to 1995. Back when World War ll was in session Wilma’s mom, dad, and her 10 siblings were forced off of their land by the United States Army along with 45 other families in the tribe. Before dying from stage 4 metastatic pancreatic cancer on April 6, 2010, Wilma was an author who wrote a book about her being the leader of her nation.

Cherokee Nation's symbol

Wilma Mankiller, first women Chief 

Cherokee Nation's flag

 





The Blackfoot Nation home to over 15,500 members are a well known tribe consisting of hunter-gatherers typically hunting buffalo and following them to wherever they would migrate to.  Although they might transfer to locations where buffalo are present, the Blackfoot Nation usually tend to stay in the northern plains. When it comes to harsh brutal seasons members of the Blackfoot tribe would separate into bands of 10 to 20 villages that have one chief that leads the group of 100 to 200 members. Each leader was handily picked to their ability of the success they had during war and their experiences with ceremonies along with how wealthy they are. In the summer, the Blackfoot nation would re gather into a big group again and conduct a ceremonial known as the Sun Dance. The Sun Dance is a time where the Blackfoot tribe gathers and celebrates rituals and warrior society, recognizing members of the tribe for their brave and courageous acts they did. The buffalo hunts led to supplying food for the ceremony. When the sun dance ceremony is over, the process continues separating into smaller groups and the hunting of buffaloes begin again. Becoming a member of the Blackfoot Nation in 1954, Earl Old Person was nominated to be a lifetime chief of the Blackfoot Nation in the year 1978. From 1964 to 2008 Old Person was a tribal chairman, and became a member of the Blackfoot Tribal Business Council in 1954. Earl has also become a memory for not just the tribe itself but the whole state of Montana who was awarded the hall a fame of Montana in 2007.

Earl Old Person, a lifetime chief and hall of fame of Montana

Blackfoot Nation's flag/symbol

Traditional Sun Dance

The Cheyenne tribe who is located in the Great Plains which is now known to be the states Wyoming, Colorado, Nebraska, etc. In the early 1830’s the tribe is split into two separate groups due to American relocation one becoming the northern Cheyenne living in Montana and the southern Cheyenne living in Oklahoma. The Northern Cheyenne tribe is known to have land that belong to them and having the right to do anything they want to it. Women and men obtain certain roles on a daily routine women typically staying home to cook and clean. Occasionally a woman will become a chief but that was usually taken on by a male. The dirty work was left for the men hunting, protecting, feeding, and defending their families. As many tribes are known for their good hunting ability, the Cheyenne tribe is known to care about freedom and the building of their relationship between them and the creation of the world. When the time came for ceremonies a main ritual men would often do was smoke out of a peace pipe as well as tell stories of their past. Like the Blackfoot tribe, the Cheyenne tribe would migrate to wherever the buffalo would go so the hunting would be easier.

Spiritual leaders of the Cheyenne River Sioux

Cheyenne Nation's flag

 

Cheyenne Nation's symbol

Containing three large groups, the Northern, Eastern, and Western Shoshone living in the Great Basin and Great Plains and all traditionally speak the Shoshoni language. Although they were hunter-gatherers they valued their dreams, visions, and a Creator more than anything. There are several traditional ceremony dances held throughout the year including the scalp dance which women tend to place a pole in the center and dance around it holding an enemy scalp. Also like the Blackfoot tribe, they have a sun dance that happens every summer and starting doing this during the reservation.  

Corbin Harney, a spiritual leader of Shoshone Nation

Eastern symbol of Shoshone Nation

 

Sacajawea a former member of the Shoshone Nation 

They call themselves “The People” in other words known as the Navajo Nation. They would trade their cotton goods and maize for buffalo meat and tools with the Pueblo people. After getting taught how to farm, storytelling, and new rituals by the Puebloans themselves that were soon to be recognized as all those things as well as hunt-gatherers and ceremonial people. Back in the day the Navajos migrated from Central Canada to the Southwest.  When the Spaniards traded sheeps and horses to the Navajo Nation they started to be well known weavers for making rugs and blankets. But they’re not known for just making those specific things what they are also known to make is fashionable clothings such as jewelry and clothes in which the Plains Indians favored them. They started moving westward because of the pressure coming from all the rest of the regions from different nations including the Comanches and the Utes. Today, they live in the four corner area with one of the largest tribal populations of around 300,000 members. Ben Shelly was elected both president and vice president of the Navajo Nation. He was president of Navajo for four years until he lost to former president Joe Shirley Jr in the 2014 elections.

Navajo Nation's symbol

Ben Shelly, former president and vice president for Navajo Nation

Navajo Nation's flag

Work Cited

Cherokee Nation-

"Cherokee - Forced From Their Homeland on the Trail of Tears." Cherokee - Forced From Their Homeland on the Trail of Tears. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Jan. 2015.

"Cherokee Nation Home." Cherokee Nation Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Jan. 2015.

"Wilma Mankiller." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 12 Jan. 2015.

"Wilma Mankiller." Wilma Mankiller. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Jan. 2015.

Blackfoot Nation-

"Blackfoot Indian Nation - Real People of Montana." Blackfoot Indian Nation - Real People of Montana. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Jan. 2015.

"Earl Old Person." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 12 Jan. 2015.

Cheyenne Nation-

"Cheyenne - Warriors of the Great Plains." Cheyenne - Warriors of the Great Plains. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Jan. 2015.

"Cheyenne Tribe." The Cheyenne Tribe of Native American Indians. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Jan. 2015.

"Cheyenne Indian Fact Sheet." Facts for Kids: Cheyenne Indians (Cheyennes). N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Jan. 2015.

Shoshone Nation-

"Shoshone Tribe of the Northwest - Information and History." Shoshone Tribe of the Northwest - Information and History. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Jan. 2015.

"THE SHOSHONE INDIANS." Shoshone Indians. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Jan. 2015.

Navajo Nation-

"The Navajo Nation - Largest in the United States." The Navajo Nation - Largest in the United States. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Jan. 2015.

"Ben Shelly." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 13 Jan. 2015.

"Navajo Nation President Shelly: Thanksgiving Did Not Begin with the Pilgrims - Native News Online." Native News Online. N.p., 27 Nov. 2013. Web. 13 Jan. 2015.