Analysis Of Little Big Man (1970) And Dances With Wolves

Little Big Man (1970) and Dances with Wolves (1990)
Another example of a sympathetic portrayal of the American Indian was the 1970 film Little Big Man, with the cast including Dustin Hoffman, Faye Dunaway, and Chief Dan George. It is considered a revisionist Western, sort of reversing the roles, with Native Americans being the “good guys” and the United States Cavalry depicted as the villains. The film tells of a white man, Jack Crabb, and his life being raised by Cheyenne Indians after his own family is killed and fighting with General Custer. It showed speaking roles for many native actors in a time when having white actors portray natives was still a common practice. By the 1990s, Native American people were starting to get more respect

and attention. They started being portrayed as both wise and spiritual, as well as victims at the hands of the evil white men. Dances with Wolves (directed by and starring Kevin Costner) is often credited as one of the leading influences for the revitalization of the Western film genre. Lt. John J. Dunbar (Kevin Costner) is sent to Fort Sedgwick and protect it from the hostile natives, but he finds it abandoned. While there, Dunbar manages to befriend a band of local neighboring Sioux, and comes to love and respect their customs, eventually abandoning his own heritage to become a Sioux and oppose the encroaching US Army. Like Little Big Man, it has a large cast of native actors, and vilifies the white man army. Because of this film's positive take on the true image of Native Americans, Costner was inducted into the Sioux Nation as an honorary member.