The movie "Dances with Wolves" is the fictional story of Lt. He is a Civil War hero who led a dangerous raid across enemy lines. After the war the army tells him he can go anywhere he wants. He chooses to command an army post in the West. When he gets there, he finds no soldiers there. He stays anyway. The other main character is a white woman captured and raised by the Sioux Indians. She is treated badly by some of the women of the tribe until she stands up to one of them, so they call her "Stands With Fist." .

             Both characters face the same problem: they don't fit well in the cultures they live in. Dunbar becomes more and more involved with the Sioux way of life. As Stands with Fist gets to know Dunbar, she begins to remember the English she has forgotten. As they both go through these changes, they fall in love. Dunbar shows his growing acceptance of those different than him by first learning to relate to a a wolf he names "Two Socks" because of markings on its feet. Both Dunbar and Stands with Fist eventually come to accept who they are. Neither Dunbar nor Stands with Fist will be easily accepted by whites again: Dunbar because he has "gone native" as the army calls it and Stands with Fist because she was in captivity for so long. .

             People who watch this movie will learn what it was like to live as a Sioux Indian during the difficult time in the late 1860's when they had to decide how to deal with the growing threat from the American army as well as threats from other Native American tribes. It shows their way of life in detail and treats their culture with respect.