Jenny Pina
January 12, 2015
Dances With Wolves essay
Many may argue that the movie, Dances With Wolves, directed by Kevin Costner, is historically inaccurate. In fact, they are incorrect. Dances With Wolves, is an accurate film that shows how men delt with injuries by using their knowledge of folk medicine and shows the relationship between the whites and the violent Indians.
As a matter if fact, in one of David Dary's story's, titled Mountain Man,Heal Thyself, shows how folk medicine was being used. The story tells about a man with the name of Hugh Glass, who was attacked by a grizzly bear. Hugh almost died, but with his knowledge about folk remedies he was able to save himself. "...Glass rolled over onto a rotting log and let the maggots eat the infection out of his back (Dary). Glass and other mountain men had to come up with their own ways of treating themselves in case of an injury. In this case, Glass believes that if he let maggots crawl on his back, they would eat away his infection. Historically, this is one way that men saved themselves. Others used herbs and buffalo skin thongs. Some men even wished for their leg or arm to get cut off to stop further infection. For example, In the beginning of Dances With Wolves, their is a scene where a man was shot in the leg/foot area and two men took him to treat him. These men were not experienced and were not familiar with germs. The men used their bare hands to touch the wounded mans injured foot and blood to treat him. When they were finished they simply just rinsed there hands in water. Just like how Dary's story historically explains how men used their knowledge in folk medicine, this is another way that men did, to save other men, in emergencies shown, in Dances With Wolves.
Similarly, the relationship between whites and violent Indians was shown both is Dary's story as well as in Costner's film. In Mountain Man,Heal Thyself, there is a tribe of Apache Indians who confronted Thomas L. Smith, telling him to leave the area in what is now Colorado. Indians were the americans fear which is why, "Smith agreed to leave the area, and when he caught up with his fellow trappers a few days later he learned that the groups leader, Sylvesters Pratte, had been killed by Indians." (Dary) Smith then was shot in the leg, the bullet truck him just about the ankle which shattered his bones. He fired his gun and in result, their was nine Indians dead including the one who shot him. The apachee Indians were violent to Smith without a particular reason. In the film, a batch of Pawnee Indians showed up to where Dunbar and Timonds were. The Pawnee Indians wore paint on their face, long feathered earrings on their ears and rode on their horse violently and yelling. One of the Pawnee indians shot 3 arrows directly to Timonds body which killed him. After Timonds was completely dead, the Pawnee who killed him scalped him and raised it as a victory. It's clear to see that the Indians were violent and vicious people to the Americans, which is why white men feared them.
As a final point, Dances With Wolves, is definetly an accurate film because it shows the historical aspects of white men's medicine and the relationship between the whites and the unfriendly Indians.
Works Cited
Dary, David. "Mountain Man, Heal Thyself." American History 43.5 (2008): 56. MAS Ultra - School
Edition. Web. 12 Jan. 2015.
