"Little Big Man" Spoofs the Old West Quiz

Answer: Cheyenne

Jack reveals this when he tells about being found by Shadow That Comes in Sight, "But this one wasn't a Pawnee. He was a Cheyenne brave. I later got to know him well."

The Cheyenne refer to themselves in their own language as "Human Beings". Adoption of white captives or orphans, as well as children of other tribes, was a common occurrence in Native American cultures as well as a common theme in literature and films about those cultures.

None of the three incorrect choices are Plains peoples.

Answer: Pawnee

Jack begins his narration with "...it was a band of Pawnee what attacked us. I ain't had no use for Pawnee ever since."

We learn that the Pawnees are traditional enemies of the Human Beings when a group of warriors from Little Big Man's village set out to wage war against them. Although Little Big Man is not expected to fight, he ends up saving Younger Bear's life by killing a Pawnee warrior.

None of the incorrect choices are Plains peoples.

Answer: The Crabbs' adoptive people think Jack's sister is a man.

As Jack narrates the scene when he and Caroline are first brought to Old Lodge Skins in the tipi, "To show good manners, Old Lodge Skins smoked with our oldest male survivor." The old chief then hands the pipe to Caroline. But one of the Cheyenne women grabs Caroline's crotch, then disgustedly slaps her hands together to show Caroline has no male equipment. Caroline later tells Jack, "They didn't know I was a woman. That's why they didn't rape me right off."

Later, Caroline, believing that the Cheyenne are going to rape her, leaves the village at night, and Jack is left to be raised by the Natives.

Answer: His sister, Caroline

Once she has her little brother completely out of his snake-oil period, Caroline tells Jack, "Why, a man ain't complete without a gun." Then, as she is teaching him how to shoot, she says, "Go snake eyed," and demonstrates the technique. She also tells him to "...draw and shoot that bottle before you touch the gun." Eventually he does that, also.

Jack then becomes a gunslinger known as the Soda Pop Kid. But he severely disappoints his sister because he can't kill a man, and she leaves him in disgust, saying "There's ain't nothin' in this world more useless than a gunfighter who can't shoot *people*!"

Answer: When Grandfather attempts to lie down and die.

Old Lodge Skins and Little Big Man go to a burial ground and the old man lies down to die. It begins to rain and after a while, he sits up and asks, "Am I still in this world?" Jack answers, "Yes, Grandfather." Whereupon Old Lodge Skins says, "I was afraid of that. Sometimes the magic works and sometimes it doesn't."

Answer: drank soda from an elephant trunk

Louise Pendrake takes young Jack to a soda fountain to dally with its proprietor, leaving Jack to help himself to the soda fountain and a spigot in the shape of an elephant's head which dispenses the soda through the trunk. Years later, when Jack has returned to the Cheyenne, Old Lodge Skins relates his dream about seeing Jack drinking from the fountain. Dreams were an important connection to the spiritual world for Native Americans, and Old Lodge Skins was very spiritually connected.

Answer: He is saved by Younger Bear.

For Younger Bear, saving Jack releases him from a self-imposed taboo against killing Little Big Man, who had saved Younger Bear's life at the hands of the Pawnee. Thus Younger Bear tells Jack, "...the next time we meet, I can kill you without becoming an evil person."

Answer: His sister, Caroline

As Jack is being tarred and feathered, Caroline, who is leading the mob, seems to recognize him and asks his name. When he replies, "Jack Crabb," Caroline exclaims, "Lord above! I've tarred and feathered my own brother!"

Answer: Little Man continues to fight after his head is cut off.

Again the Pawnees were the enemy. Little Man fought hard, but the Pawnee cut off his head. But he fought on. Grandfather says, "He rode among the Pawnees like a whirlwind, and his head, which was stuck on a spear, started to shout the war cry. The Pawnees could take no more..."

Answer: Little Horse

Robert Little Star plays Little Horse. As Old Lodge Skins explains to Jack, "The Human Beings don't require a boy to be a warrior if he ain't got the temperament, and Little Horse didn't. If he wanted to stay with the women, that was all right with the Human Beings."

Answer: fist fight

When the boys were getting ready to go on a raid against the Pawnees, Younger Bear attempted to bully Jack into not joining in the raid. Jack responded by slugging Younger Bear, bloodying his nose. Amazed, Younger Bear asks, "How did you do that?" The incident resulted in Younger Bear's lifelong enmity with Jack.

Answer: Olga and Sunshine

Olga was a Swedish immigrant who was Jack's wife when he owned the dry goods store. She was captured by the Cheyenne as the couple was heading west and eventually became Younger Bear's nagging wife. Later, when he was a muleskinner for the Army, Jack discovered Sunshine giving birth during a raid on the Cheyenne. Jack took her as his wife, left the Army, and returned to the Cheyenne. She was killed during Custer's raid on the Cheyenne at the Washita River.

Caroline was Jack's sister. Louise and Lulu were the names of Faye Dunaway's character in the movie, first as the philandering wife of Reverend Silas Pendrake, and then later as the "fallen flower" and friend of Wild Bill Hickok. Snake Woman and Doesn't Like Horses were wives of Old Lodge Skins. And Little White Dove was the name of Running Bear's beloved in the 1959 pop song written by the Big Bopper.

Answer: Wild Bill Hickok

Hickok and Jack became acquainted during Jack's gunfighter period as the Soda Pop Kid. Wild Bill was a famed authentic gunfighter, while Jack was not. Later, when he found Jack as the town drunk in Deadwood, Hickok told Jack, "You're a sad sight, horse. You should have stuck to soda pop." Hickok then gave Jack money to clean up so he could do Wild Bill "a confidential favor...involving a widow." Shortly thereafter, Bill was shot to death.

Answer: muleskinner and scout

Jack's first position with Custer was as a muleskinner, but he turned against the army during the raid when he discovered Sunshine. Much later, when he was considering suicide, he spied the cavalry on the march, Jack decided to take his revenge on Custer, who accepted Jack as a scout.

In between his two stints in the Seventh Cavalry, Jack experienced the massacre on the Washita River, as well as his drunk period. He later contemplated suicide, but witnessed Custer's forces crossing the Plains toward the eventual battleground of the Little Bighorn.

Answer: as a "reverse barometer"

Knowing Jack was sympathetic to the Cheyenne, Custer told his adjutant, "Oh, his game is very obvious: to lead me away from his Indian friends. Anything that man tells me will be a lie. Therefore he will be a perfect reverse barometer."