Dances with Wolves is a 1990 epic film which tells the story of a United States cavalry officer from the Civil War who travels alone into the frontier near a Sioux tribe.[1] Developed by director/star Kevin Costner over 5 years, the film (released 21 November 1990) has high production values[1] and won 7 Academy Awards (1990) and the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Drama[2] Much of the dialogue is in the Lakota language with English subtitles, unusual for a film at the time of its release.

The film opens during a lull in a battle of the US Civil War. Union Army Officer Lieutenant John J. Dunbar has learned that his injured leg is to be amputated. Seeing the plight of fellow soldiers with amputated legs, Dunbar decides to attempt suicide by riding a horse across the line of fire, between the opposing Union and Confederate positions. His action has the unexpected effect of rallying his comrades, who then storm the Confederate positions. After the ensuing battle, Dunbar is named a hero by his commanding officer, and his leg is saved by the general's surgeon. He is offered his choice of next posting, and Cisco, the horse who carried him.

Dunbar requests a transfer to the western frontier. After meeting with an insane general (Maury Chaykin) he is paired with a Teamster named Timmons (Robert Pastorelli) who would take him to his post. He arrives with fresh post supplies at the desolate Fort Sedgwick, and finds it deserted except for a lone wolf, whom Dunbar befriends and dubs Two Socks, on account of the coloring of his front legs. Dunbar sets himself to clean up and set in order the deserted post, while waiting for reinforcements to arrive. Dunbar eventually encounters the local Sioux-Lakota American Indian tribe. (In the book, Dunbar interacts with the Comanche.) Some Sioux youths hear that Dunbar is at the old fort and attempt to capture Cisco in order to become heroes. Dunbar's horse escapes by pulling off the rider holding on his bridle and returns to the post. This happens again later when several adult members of the tribe try to take the horse but the man holding the horse's reins is again pulled off and the horse escapes.

Dunbar now believes that his wait was for nothing and decides to go to the Sioux village to talk but discovers an injured European American woman named Stands With A Fist, who is wearing Indian clothing, and speaking only the Lakota language. Dunbar returns the woman to the tribe for treatment. Initially the Sioux are suspicious and wary, but begin to accept Dunbar after they visit the fort and begin simple communication. Eventually a dialogue is opened when the medicine man, Kicking Bird, asks Stands With A Fist to translate between himself and Dunbar.

Dunbar finds himself more and more drawn to the lifestyle and customs of his Indian neighbors. He becomes a hero among the Sioux, and is accepted as an honorary member of the tribe after he helps the Sioux to locate a large migrating herd of buffalo, upon which they are dependent as a source of nourishment, supplies, and clothing. Dunbar also 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 Shu-mani-tu-tonka Ob' Wa-chi (the eponymous "Dances with Wolves"), after the scouts witnessed him frolicking with Two Socks, the wolf that follows Dunbar. He then marries Stands With A Fist and spends more time communing with the tribe than manning his post at Fort Sedgwick.

Dunbar's idyll ends when he must tell Kicking Bird that white men will continue to invade their land in numbers like the stars. They tell Chief Ten Bears, who decides it is time to move the village to its winter camp. As the final packing finishes, Dunbar realizes that his journal, left behind at the deserted fort, is a blueprint for finding the Sioux and knowing far too much about their ways. He returns to retrieve it, but finds Fort Sedgwick is re-occupied by reinforcing Army troops, who arrest and beat him as a deserter. Afterwards he is escorted by Army Officers and troopers away from Sedgwick when a rescue party attacks the column of men. He is rescued by Wind In His Hair and other warriors from the tribe, as well as Smiles A Lot who later finds Dunbar's journal floating away in a stream. After returning to the winter camp Dunbar realizes that as a deserter and fugitive, if he stays with the Sioux he will continue to draw the unwelcome attention of the Army, and endanger the welfare of the tribe. Dunbar decides that he must leave the tribe, saying he must speak to those who would listen. His new wife accompanies him.

As Dunbar/Dances With Wolves and Stands With A Fist leave the camp they hear Wind In His Hair cry out that Dances with Wolves will always be his friend. A short time later a column of cavalry and Indian scouts arrive to find the camp site empty.