Dances With Wolves
We are watching this film because it portrays the interaction/clash between Native Americans and white European Americans in the Great Plains during the second half of the 1800's.
As you watch Dances with Wolves, please answer the
following questions in your book.
1. What type of medical care is available to soldiers during the Civil War? How does it differ for officers and enlisted men (normal soldier)?
normal soldier has no medical care only amputation
2. From the end of the Civil War (1865) to the Spanish-American War (1898), the U.S. Army's
primary deployment was in the Plains, fighting the "Indian Wars." What tactics did the Army use to fight against the Natives?
they built huts in the hills with little openings for their guns to stick out of
3. How does John Dunbar change? What is his attitude when he first creates his post?
he thought the Indians where bad but though the movie he finds that the Indians where good
4. What is assimilation? How does Dunbar assimilate into Sioux culture?
by returning a hurt Sioux member back to the tribe
5. Two Native tribes are referenced in the film (Sioux and Pawnee). How do their approaches differ in dealing with whites? Which is the better approach? Why do you think so?
the Sioux give the whites a chance and the Pawnee just kill them
6. Native Americans and white European Americans view natural resources and land differently. Explain this difference, paying particular attention to the hunting/use of buffalo ("tatonka") and land ownership.
the native Americans only kill the amount of buffalo they need to survive the winter the white just kill the buffalo for the skin and wast the rest
7. Predict: How will the army respond to Dunbar’s assimilation once they catch up with him?
they think he is a traitor and are going to transport him to a town and kill him
CHARACTER
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DESCRIBE THEIR PERSONALITY
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WHAT THEY ARE DOING IN THE MOVIE
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John Dunbar
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main character
goes to the frontier
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Major Fambrough
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he was a crazy drunk
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Sends John to work at a western military outpost
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Timmons
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he is not nice, rude and crazy
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he takes john Dunbar to the frontier
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Wind in His Hair
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Brave and angry
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he wants to kill john Dunbar
at the start but wants to be his friend at the end
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Kicking Bird
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Two-Socks
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a wolf that keeps john dumbar
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Stands With Fist
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john Dunbar's wife
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Ten Bears
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Smiles a lot
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Retrieves Dunbar’s diary
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The film opens during the________u.s. civil war ____________. Union Army Officer Lieutenant John J. Dunbar learns that his injured leg is to be____________amputated___________. Seeing the plight of other _________soldiers__________ with amputated legs, Dunbar attempts _________suicide___________ by riding a _________horse____________ across the line of fire between the opposing ____________________ and _________________ positions. His action has the unexpected effect of rallying his comrades, who storm the Confederate positions.
After the battle, a surgeon saves Dunbar's _______leg_____. The commanding officer says that Dunbar is a ____hero______ and offers Dunbar his choice of military station.
Dunbar requests a transfer to the West Coast (frontier) of America during a quick meeting with Major Fambrough, who is having a few mental problems (he is proud that he has ____________ in his pants). Dunbar is teamed up with a rough cowboy named Timmons, who escorts Dunbar on a ______waggon_______ to his new post.
After a scenic journey, Dunbar and Timmons arrive at the isolated Fort Sedgwick, finding it deserted except for a lone ______wolf_______ that Dunbar befriends and names ________two socks ____________. Dunbar, while waiting for reinforcements to arrive, begins _______repairing_______ the deserted post. Timmons, while returning back to the East Coast of America, is ambushed by Pawnee Indians and _______scalped_______.
Timmons' death and the suicide of the major who sent him to the post prevents anyone from knowing where Dunbar is, effectively isolating Dunbar. Dunbar remains unaware of the full situation and its implications. He writes in his ________diary________ how strange it is that no more _______soldiers_______ have joined him at the post.
Dunbar has some close encounters with an aggressive tribe called the Pawnee, who steal his _______rifles_______. Dunbar decides to ride out to meet and talk with the Sioux Indians, who live in the surrounding hills.
Dunbar finds himself drawn to the _______lifestyle_______ and _____customs_________ of his Indian neighbors, the Sioux Tribe. He becomes a hero among the Sioux and is accepted as an honorary member of the tribe after he helps them locate a migrating herd of ______buffalo__________, which they depend upon as a source of ____food_______, material, and clothing.
Dunbar helps defend the settlement against a Pawnee raiding party, providing the Sioux warriors with surplus ____rifles_______ and ammunition from the fort. He eventually is accepted as a full member of the tribe, and is named Šuŋgmánitu Taŋka Ob'wačhi (literally Dances With Wolf), after they see him playing with Two Socks. He falls in love with Stands With A Fist, who initially served as an _______________ between Kicking Bird and Dunbar.The two eventually marry, and Dunbar spends more time with the tribe than manning his post at Fort Sedgwick. Dunbar's tells Kicking Bird that white men will continue to ______invade_______ their land in "numbers like the stars." They tell this to Chief Ten Bears, who decides it is time to move the village to its winter camp.
Dunbar realizes that his _____horse_________, left behind at the deserted fort, is a map for finding the Sioux. It reveals that he knows far too much about their ways. He returns to the fort to retrieve it, but finds Sedgwick is re-occupied by reinforcing Army troops, who shoot Cisco and arrest and beat Dunbar as a deserter.
Lots of other stuff happens too, but I don’t want to spoil the ending for you. Enjoy the twist in the end J
