Positive Portrayal of Native Americans in the Film, Dances With Wolves

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Positive Portrayal of Native Americans in the Film, Dances With Wolves

The film Dances With Wolves, attempts to change our stereotypical view of Native Americans, as savage and uncivilized people, by allowing us to see life from their perspective, helping us to realize that many of their experiences are not all that different from our own. The main setting of the film is the Great Western Plains of North Dakota. John Dunbar comes to discover the west before it is completely destroyed through settlement and what he actually finds is a group of people that he comes to understand and love, for all of the qualities that he finds within their individual lives. The Sioux soon become a part of John Dunbar's experience not only in the west, but in his life as well. Through his eyes, the viewers begin to see that these Native Americans are not what they are expected to be, but instead are civilized and are companions that can have strong relationships.

An important element of the film is the way that it sets us up to respect John Dunbar, for the qualities that he has. One of these qualities is bravery. In the beginning of the film, Dunbar is shown in a battle and he decides to get on a horse and ride across the front lines of his enemies fearlessly looking into the very faces of those whom are supposed to be his greatest enemies. This seems to be a foreshadow of the first meeting of Dunbar with the Sioux Indians, because like in the opening scene, he is unafraid to look into the face of a man who would usually be considered his enemy.

After John Dunbar has ridden across the front lines twice, he falls from the horse out of mere exhaustion and is taken care of immediately. To show that Dunbar is valued by those around him, the do...

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...views of these people and what they are expected to be, is taken away as the viewer realizes that the life of the natives is very common and understandable. This film almost goes to prove that often the reason that a certain group is tagged by prejudice views, is because little is known about where they are coming from, how they live or what they are experiencing in life. The film Dances With Wolves does a good job of proving that often our stereotypical views of others are inaccurate, and that the Native Americans of the west were not all that different from the whites that also inhabited the plains.

Works Cited

Costner, Kevin, dir. Dances With Wolves. Perf. Kevin Costner, Mary McDonnell, Graham Greene, and Rodney A. Grant. 1990. Videocassette. Orion, 1991.

Reference Encarta Page. 16 Mar. 1999. "Sioux". 13 Oct. 2001.http://encarta.mns.com/find/Consise

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