Summaries

Synopsis

In 1863, First Lieutenant John J. Dunbar (Kevin Costner) is injured in the American Civil War. Dunbar is waiting at the surgeon's table for a surgery as the doctors are on a coffee break. Rather than having his leg amputated he returns to his unit. The Union and Confederate forces are at a stalemate in the middle of a field. Dunbar takes a horse and rides up to the Confederate front lines, distracting them in the process. The Confederate soldiers fire everything at Dunbar, but no bullet hits him.

The roused Union army then attacks, and the battle ends a Confederate rout.Dunbar survives and is allowed to properly recover. General Tide (Donald Hotton) assigns his own personal ambulance and surgeon to attend to Dunbar.He receives a citation for bravery and is awarded Cisco, the horse who carried him, as well as his choice of posting. Dunbar requests a transfer to the western frontier so he can see its vast terrain before it goes.

The frontier districts are under the command of Major Fambrough (Maury Chaykin) at Fort Hayes. Fambrough is shown to be mentally unstable and after sending Dunbar on his way, he commits suicide.A peasant named Timmons (Robert Pastorelli) takes Dunbar to Segdwick on his re-supply run for the frontier fort. Dunbar arrives at his new post, Fort Sedgwick, but finds it abandoned and in disrepair. Fort Sedgwick is under Captain Cargill (Michael Horton).Cargill had release his men from duty after Fort Hayes had failed to re-supply them for months and the fort came under frequent native American attack.

Despite the threat of nearby Native American tribes, Dunbar elects to stay and mans the post himself. He begins rebuilding and restocking the fort and prefers the solitude afforded him, recording many of his observations in his journal.He removes dead deer carcass from a nearby lake to make its water drinkable again. The deer were all shot, but the reason for the same was not clear. He finds 2 small caves near the fort, where men were living. He thinks the men were frightened and were hiding there.

Timmons is found by native American warriors on his way back and is killed. Meanwhile a wolf with 2 milky white paws starts visiting Dunbar at the fort.

Dunbar initially encounters his Sioux neighbors when several attempts are made to steal his horse and intimidate him. Dunbar's presence is reported to the tribe leaders. Some tribe members want to kill Dunbar, but others want to discuss the matter as killing white men will only attract more. The tribe leader feels that treaties must be struck to co-exist with the white man.Dunbar decides to seek out the Sioux camp in an attempt to establish a dialogue. Dunbar also buries all his excess ordinance, lest it falls into enemy hands.

On his way he comes across Stands With A Fist (Mary McDonnell), who has injured herself in mourning of her deceased husband. She is the white adopted daughter of the tribe's medicine man Kicking Bird (Graham Greene), as her white family was killed by the Pawnee tribe when she was young. Her original name was Christine.Dunbar returns her to the Sioux to be treated, which changes their attitude toward him. Eventually, Dunbar establishes a rapport with Kicking Bird and warrior Wind In His Hair (Rodney A. Grant) who equally wish to communicate.Initially the language barrier frustrates them, so Kicking Bird asks Stands With A Fist, though with difficulty remembering her English, to act as translator. Stands With a Fist is worried that Dunbar will find that she is a white woman, and she will be taken away from the tribe, but Kicking Bird assures her that the whole tribe will fight for her.

Dunbar finds himself drawn to the lifestyle and customs of the tribe and begins spending most of his time with them. Learning their language, he becomes a hero among the Sioux and is accepted as an honored guest after he locates a migrating herd of buffalo and alerts the Sioux to their presence. The tribe uproots and moves closer to the buffalo herd with unmatched efficiency and speed.Dunbar is invited to participate in the hunt, which is a unique honor given to a white man. As the tribe reaches the herd, they find only dead carcasses, who had been stripped off their hide. This was clearly the work of white hunters who killed the buffalo for their tongue and their hide.They eventually find the buffalo herd and hunt it in their traditional ways.Dunbar also realizes that the Sioux found the white hunters who killed their buffalo and massacred them.After the hunt, Sioux warrior Wind In His Hair, befriends Dunbar. Wind In His Hair was earlier very critical of Dunbar, but eventually came to see him as a member of the tribe.

At Fort Sedgwick, Dunbar also befriends a wolf he dubs "Two Socks" for its white fore-paws. When the Sioux observe Dunbar and Two Socks chasing each other, they give him his Sioux name "Dances with Wolves".The Sioux leave to make war against the rival Pawnee and Kicking Bird asks Dunbar to watch over his family while he is gone.During this time, Dunbar also forges a romantic relationship with Stands with a Fist and helps defend the village from an attack by the rival Pawnee. Dunbar brings his guns from the fort which helps even the scales. The Pawnee are beaten back.Stands With A Fist reveals that when she first came to the tribe, one woman did not like her and called her bad names. One day that woman started beating her, and she punched her back and stood over her with a fist. From that day she was named "Stands With A Fist".Dunbar eventually wins Kicking Bird's approval to marry Stands with a Fist and abandons Fort Sedgwick. Dunbar tries to start a family by getting Stands With A Fist pregnant. Due to his persistent efforts, he is called Busy Bee.

Dubar finally tells Kicking Bird that many more white men will come to the frontier.Because of the growing Pawnee and white threat, Chief Ten Bears (Floyd Red Crow Westerman) decides to move the tribe to its winter camp. Dunbar decides to accompany them but must first retrieve his journal from Fort Sedgewick.However, when he arrives, he finds it occupied by the U.S. Army. Because of his Sioux clothing, the soldiers mistake him for a Native and open fire, killing Cisco and capturing Dunbar.

Sgt Bauer (Larry Joshua) interrogates him, but Dunbar cannot prove his situation as Corporal Spivey (Tony Pierce) secretly steals his journal. Lt. Elgin (Charles Rocket) tries to establish the truth, but he has no proof either way.As a result, along with Dunbar's refusal to serve as an interpreter to the tribes, he is put on trial for treason and transported back east as prisoner. While travelling in the armed caravan, the soldiers kill Two Socks when the wolf attempts to follow Dunbar.

Eventually the Sioux track the convoy, killing the soldiers and freeing Dunbar. At the winter camp, Dunbar decides to leave with Stands With A Fist since his status will put the tribe in danger. As they leave, Wind In His Hair shouts across to Dunbar, reminding him of their friendship.

U.S. troops are seen searching the mountains but are unable to locate them, while a lone wolf howls in the distance.An epilogue states that thirteen years later the last remnants of Sioux were subjugated to the American government, ending the conquest of the Western frontier states and the livelihoods of the tribes in the plains.