43 Dances with Wolves Trivia Questions & Answers

Answer: "Fire lives on the prairie."

She is teaching him the Lakota language as they walk together on the prairie, and the sentence he was trying to say was "Grass grows on the prairie.". She laughs at his mangled version and he replies "Okay. No laughing."

Answer: Timmons (Robert Pastorelli)

In the events leading up to this scene, U.S. Civil War veteran Lieutenant John Dunbar (Kevin Costner) has requested that he be stationed at a western U.S. outpost, to see the west before it's gone. He gets assigned to remote Fort Sedgwick (which turns out to be unoccupied), and gets a ride there with trader Timmons (Robert Pastorelli). Timmons' crude and obnoxious behavior takes the edge off Dunbar's enjoyment of his experience as they travel farther west. As he writes in his journal, "If it wasn't for my companion, I believe I'd be having the time of my life." In this scene Dunbar finds an old skeleton on the prairie and Timmons comments with this quote.

Answer: Jim and Jake

"Gee on a little bit, Jim! Haw!" Timmons may be obnoxious, but he loves his mules. As he and Dances With Wolves board the wagon to head out to Fort Sedgewick, Timmons yells to the mules, "Jim and Jake! Haw!"

Answer: Why are you not married?

The topic of Stands with a Fist's marital status is quite a touchy one, considering that her former husband was recently killed in battle. Stands with a Fist is in fact still mourning her husband, and when Dunbar first encounters her in the film, she is in the midst of a suicide ritual. Soon, however, her mourning will be over and happier times will present themselves.

Answer: John Dunbar (Kevin Costner)

In the events leading up to this scene, Lieutenant Dunbar introduces himself to a village of nearby Sioux Indians and eventually has a meeting with Kicking Bird (Graham Greene), with Stands With A Fist (Mary McDonnell) translating. In this scene Kicking Bird mistakenly thinks Lt. Dunbar's name is Dumb Bear, and Dunbar corrects him with this quote.

Answer: He announces that the buffalo have come

In his cabin at Ft. Sedgwick, Dunbar suddenly feels the ground shaking. He immediately ascertains that this earthquake is occurring thanks to a massive buffalo herd passing nearby. He feels obliged to immediately inform his new friends while they are engaged in a ceremony. Screaming madly that the buffalo (tatanka) have arrived, he is accosted by several Sioux warriors in full face paint. After being roughed up a bit, Kicking Bird elicits Dunbar's message and the entire crowd erupts in a celebratory ruckus.

Answer: A deer carcass

Dunbar goes on to discover a number of deer carcasses in the pond (in the extended version...in the theater version we only see the one carcass). He cannot understand why the dead deer are in the pond, nor can he understand why the men of the fort have been dwelling in mud caves. He burns the deer carcasses, creating a huge plume of smoke.

Answer: Removing a foot

Words like 'saw' and 'gangrene' are bandied about by the two 'doctors', who also announce they are out of ether. Fortunately, they decide to 'coffee up' before performing their grim task. This gives Dunbar a chance to replace his boot upon his bloodied foot and get himself out of reach of these two sawbones!

Answer: "Not what you would call much of a going concern."

He also says, "Everybody's run off or got kilt." Upon seeing the fort is deserted, Timmons wants to turn around and head back, but John Dunbar tells him, "This is my post." Timmons argues with him about it until Dunbar pulls a gun on him and orders him to unload the supplies.

Answer: Stands With A Fist (Mary McDonnell)

In this scene Stands With A Fist is translating between John Dunbar and Kicking Bird and says "He thanks Dances With Wolves for coming." Dunbar asks "Who is Dances with Wolves?" and Stands With a Fist answers with this quote. In the dream sequence where Stands With A Fist as a young child (Christine) is captured by the Pawnee Indians who killed her family, Christine is played by Kevin Costner's daughter Annie.

Answer: Don't!

Stands With a Fist has slit her wrist in what appears to be a suicide attempt. She is mourning the recent loss of her husband, a warrior killed in battle with nearby Utes (the scene where she discovers her husband's death is added in the extended version.) Dunbar is able to get Stands With a Fist to release her knife, and in the struggle she says 'Don't!', much to his surprise.

Answer: St. David's Field

It is 1863, and the location is St. David's Field, Tennessee. The Union army, led by General Tide, is confronted by Confederate troops led by a certain Colonel Tucker. So far as I know, these places and people are all fictional.

Answer: Otter

The children lasso the horse and are riding away with it, but the horse jerks violently on the rope, pulling Otter (who was holding the rope) from his horse, injuring his arm. When Otter blames him for his predicament, Smiles A Lot says, "My idea was only to take the horse, not fall down." I think this is one of the funniest lines in the movie!

Answer: John Dunbar (Kevin Costner)

In this scene Lieutenant Dunbar has just participated in a buffalo hunt with the Indians, helped celebrate the success with feasting and storytelling, and is returning to the soldiers' fort. He makes this observation about them as a voiceover in the movie.

Answer: Telescope

After taking a peek through the telescope, Kicking Bird has to move it away, checking the distance between himself and the buffalo herd. Dunbar then allows him to continue viewing the buffalo through the telescope, much to his friend's delight.

Answer: Wasichu

Apparently, the word 'wasichu' breaks down into the Sioux words for 'fat' and 'thief', the rather unflattering name chosen for a people (Caucasians) with whom relations were obviously very troubled.

Answer: Cisco

Dunbar makes not one but two passes across the Confederate line, allowing the soldiers a free shot, albeit a moving one. After the second pass, the Union generals take advantage of the distraction to mount a charge against their enemies. The battle turns into a rout and Dunbar is labeled a hero!

Answer: Pawnee

Amidst rumors of Pawnee war parties in the area, the tribe assembles a group of warriors to go find them. However, while they are gone, the Pawnee arrive at the village. As the remaining tribe members gather together in a panic, Stands With A Fist tells Dances With Wolves, "The Pawnee are coming - 40 or 50 men. A hunting party found them to the north." Dances With Wolves tells them he has rifles at the fort, and Chief Ten Bears sends him to retrieve them. The tribe that attacked Stands With A Fist's family when she was a child was also Pawnee, as were the group that killed Timmons on his return trip from Fort Sedgewick.

Answer: Stone Calf

Stone Calf, played by Jimmy Herman, takes a tomahawk in the back. Seemingly all of the Pawnees are killed in the battle, including the leader, played by Wes Studi. After the battle, Dunbar proclaims his pride in the victory.

'It was hard to know how to feel.' says Dunbar. 'I'd never been in a battle like this one. There was no dark, political objective. This was not a fight for territory or for riches, or to make men free. It was fought to preserve the food stores that would see us through the winter. To protect the lives of the women and children and loved ones only a few feet away.' He continues: 'And I gradually began to look at it in a new way. I felt a pride I'd never felt before. I'd never really known who John Dunbar was, perhaps the name itself had no meaning, but as I heard my Sioux name being called over and over, I knew for the first time who I really was.'

Answer: Sgt. Bauer (Larry Joshua)

In the events leading up to this scene, Lieutenant Dunbar has married Stands With a Fist, has started living at the Indian village, and has started dressing like an Indian. As the tribe is preparing to move to winter camp, he suddenly realizes he left his journal back at the soldiers' fort. When he goes back for his journal, new soldiers at the fort kill his horse and capture him. Sgt. Bauer says this quote to Dunbar just after he has been captured.

Answer: Fort Hays

The Fort Hays of the film is supposed to be situated on the prairie which would likely make this the Fort Hays located in Kansas. Dunbar finds the place full of activity as the conquering of the American West is still under progress.

Answer: American flag

After several raids on his fort, Dunbar decides he needs to make a better impression on the natives than the one he has presented to them thus far. He gets dressed up in his full dress uniform and heads towards the Indian village, carrying an American flag as he goes. On the way, he comes upon Stands With A Fist, who has slashed her wrists as part of the mourning ritual for her recently deceased husband. She faints from fear upon seeing him, and he wraps her wounds with the flag and takes her back to the village.

Answer: Bathing

Dunbar had been washing his clothing and taking a bath in the pond. Returning to his cabin, he notices a single Indian apparently helping himself to Cisco. The lieutenant very purposefully shouts 'You there', while swiftly approaching the horse corral fully nude. Whether it be out of shock at the appearance of Dunbar, or fear of the sight of a nude Costner, the Indian runs to his horse and rides off in a flurry.

Answer: Major Fambrough

Fambrough is an odd sort, to say the least. He refers to Dunbar as 'Sir Knight', and speaks in an extremely condescending manner. Later, he announces that he has 'wet himself'. Just as Dunbar sets off on his horse, he hears a gunshot ringing out in the background. Fambrough has taken his own life.

Answer: the appearance of Indians there

Two Socks appears on the horizon just before Kicking Bird's first visit to the fort, and also just before the group led by Wind In His Hair arrives later. This holds true even at the very end, when Two Socks seems to instead signal the presence of soldiers at Fort Sedgewick, who shoot him dead. However, as the camera slowly zooms out after Two Socks is shot, we see the Sioux rescue party hiding behind the ridge that Two Socks was on at the time. The only time Two Socks' arrival at the fort does not precede the arrival of Indians there is the scene where Dances With Wolves goes back to the fort one last time, to gather possessions before moving permanently to the Sioux village. In this scene, Two Socks finally eats from Dances With Wolves' hand.