Dances with Wolves (1990)
Kevin Costner: Lieutenant Dunbar
Photos
Quotes
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Ten Bears : [in Lakota to Dunbar; subtitled] Dances with Wolves has been quiet these past few days. Is his heart bad?
John Dunbar : [in Lakota to the village council; subtitled] Killing those soldiers at the river was a good thing. I never got to thank all of you for saving me. I did not mind killing those men. I was glad to do it. But now I know that the soldiers hate me like they hate no other. Because I killed soldiers, men of my own race, they think I am a traitor.
[the council murmurs and nods in agreement]
John Dunbar : [in Lakota; subtitled] And now they will hunt for me. And when they find me they will find you. I think it would be wise to move the village to another location right now. As for me... I will be leaving. I will be leaving with my wife Stands With a Fist as soon as possible. I must go and try to talk to those that will listen.
[shouts and protests immediately begin around the council. Wind In His Hair stands up and screams his objection. Even Kicking Bird is protesting. However, Ten Bears rises both of his hands as a sign to stop]
Ten Bears : [in Lakota; subtitled] Quiet! You are all hurting my ears! Leave us!
[all the Sioux file out of the tent, and within seconds Ten Bears and Dunbar are alone]
Ten Bears : [in Lakota to Dunbar; subtitled] You are the only white man I have ever known. I have thought about you a lot. More than you think. And I understand your concern. But I think you are wrong. The white man the soldiers are looking for no longer exists. Now there is only a Sioux named Dances with Wolves.
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John Dunbar : [to his army captors who are interrogating him, in Lakota] My name is Dances with Wolves. I have nothing to say to you. You are not worth talking to.
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Stands With a Fist : [translating for Kicking Bird] He thanks Dances with Wolves for coming.
John Dunbar : Who is Dances with Wolves?
Stands With a Fist : It is the name all the people are calling you now.
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John Dunbar : How did you get your name?
Stands With a Fist : When I came to live on the prarie, I worked every day... very hard... there was a woman who didn't like me. She called me bad names... sometimes she beat me. One day she was calling me these bad names, her face in my face, and I hit her. I was not very big, but she fell down. She fell hard and didn't move. I stood over her with my fist and asked if any other woman wanted to call me bad names... No one bothered me after that day.
John Dunbar : [smiles] I wouldn't think so. Show me... where you hit her.
[Stands With a Fist balls her fist and touches John at the base of the chin. John feigns being knocked unconscious as Stands With a Fist laughs]
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Ten Bears : [in Lakota; subtitled] Let us smoke a while.
John Dunbar : [voiceover] With Ten Bears, it was always more than a while. There was purpose in everything he did, and I knew he wanted me to stay. But I was sure of myself. I would be an excuse, and that's all the Army would need to find this place. I pushed him as far as I could to move the camp. But in the end, he only smiled and talked of simple pleasures. He reminded me that at his age, a good fire was better than anything. Ten Bears was an extraordinary man.
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John Dunbar : [in Lakota; subtitled] We are trying for a baby.
Kicking Bird : [in Lakota] No waiting?
John Dunbar : [in Lakota] No waiting.
Kicking Bird : [in Lakota] I was just thinking that of all the trails in this life, there are some that matter most. It is the trail of a true human being. I think you are on this trail, and it is good to see.
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John Dunbar : Many times I'd felt alone, but until this afternoon I'd never felt completely lonely.
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John Dunbar : [writing in his diary] If it wasn't for my companion, I believe I'd be having the time of my life.
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John Dunbar : I'm John Dunbar.
Stands With a Fist : John - John Dunber.
John Dunbar : Dunbar.
Stands With a Fist : Dunbar - John Dunbar. John Dunbar.
Kicking Bird : Dumb bear.
John Dunbar : No, not Dumb Bear.
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John Dunbar : [voice-over] They were a people so eager to laugh, so devoted to family, so dedicated to each other. The only word that comes to mind is harmony.
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John Dunbar : [voice-over] Nothing I have been told about these people is correct. They are not thieves or beggars. They are not the bogeymen they are made out to be. On the contrary, they are polite guests and I enjoy their humor.
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Stands With a Fist : He also asks if you would watch over his family while he is gone.
[pauses]
Stands With a Fist : This thing he asks of you is a great honor.
John Dunbar : Tell him I would be happy to watch over his family.
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John Dunbar : Who would do such a thing? The field was proof enough that it was a people without value and without soul, with no regard for Sioux rights. The wagon tracks leading away left little doubt and my heart sank as I knew it could only be white hunters. Voices that had been joyous all morning were now as silent as the dead buffalo left to rot in this valley, killed only for their tongues and the price of their hides.
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Major Fambrough : [barely audible] Lieutenant John J. Dunbar?
[louder]
Major Fambrough : Lieutenant John J. Dunbar?
John Dunbar : Yes, sir.
Major Fambrough : Yes, sir. Indian fighter, huh?
John Dunbar : Excuse me?
Major Fambrough : [reading orders] Well it says here that you're to be posted on the frontier. The frontier's Indian country. I quickly deduced that you're an Indian fighter. I did not ascend to this position by being stupid.
John Dunbar : No, sir.
Major Fambrough : No, sir. It says here that you've been decorated.
John Dunbar : Yes, sir.
Major Fambrough : [nods] And they sent you here to be posted?
John Dunbar : Actually sir, I'm here at my own request.
Major Fambrough : Really? Why?
John Dunbar : I've always wanted to see the frontier.
Major Fambrough : You want to see the frontier?
John Dunbar : Yes, sir. Before it's gone.
Major Fambrough : [smiles] Such a smart lad, coming straight to me.
[pulls a sheet of paper from his desk drawer and begins to write]
Major Fambrough : Sir Knight... I'm sending you on a knight's errand. You will report to Captain Cargill at the furthermost outpost of the realm... Fort Sedgewick. My personal seal will assure your safety through many miles of wild and hostile country.
[wads up the paper tightly and hands it to Dunbar]
John Dunbar : I was wondering...
Major Fambrough : Yes?
John Dunbar : I was wondering, sir... how will I be getting there?
Major Fambrough : [paranoid] You think I don't know?
John Dunbar : No, sir.
Major Fambrough : You think I don't know.
John Dunbar : No sir, it's just that I don't...
Major Fambrough : Hold your tongue! I just happen to be in a generous mood and I will grant you a boon. See that peasant out there?
[glances to window to Timmons standing outside]
Major Fambrough : He calls himself Timmons. He's going to your Fort Sedgewick this very afternoon... you can ride with him if you like. He knows the way. Thank you. That is all.
Major Fambrough : [Dunbar salutes Fambrough... he returns it halfheartedly. Dunbar turns to leave] Sir Knight?
[Dunbar turns back around to face him, Fambrough stands up]
Major Fambrough : I've just pissed in my pants, and nobody can do anything about it.
[Dunbar turns back around silently and leaves]
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John Dunbar : The strangeness of this life cannot be measured: in trying to produce my own death, I was elevated to the status of a living hero.
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John Dunbar : [voice-over] I had never really known who John Dunbar was. Perhaps because 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.
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John Dunbar : [at the celebration of the buffalo feast, noticing a big Sioux man has his Lieutenant's hat] That's my hat... that's my hat!
Big Warrior : [in Lakota, as all becomes quiet in the tent] I found it on the prarie. It's mine.
Wind In His Hair : [stands up, in Lakota] The hat belongs to Lieutenant.
Big Warrior : He left it on the prarie. He didn't want it.
Wind In His Hair : Well, you can see he wants it now. We all know it's a soldier hat. We all know who wears it. If you want to keep it, that's fine. But give something for it.
[the Sioux takes his knife and sheath off his belt and gives it to Dunbar]
Wind In His Hair : [in English, to Dunbar] Good... trade!
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John Dunbar : [voice over] It seems every day ends with a miracle here. And whatever God may be, I thank God for this day.
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John Dunbar : I am Lieutenant John J. Dunbar and this is my post.
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Kicking Bird : [after receiving the pipe from Dances with Wolves] How does it smoke?
John Dunbar : I've never smoked it.
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John Dunbar : Guns would make one warrior like two.
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John Dunbar : How come we haven't seen any buffalo?
Timmons : Can't figure the stinking buffalo. Sometimes you don't see them for days, and sometimes they're out there as thick as curls on a whore.
John Dunbar : What about Indians?
Timmons : Indians? Goddamn Indians you'd just as soon not see, unless the bastards are dead. They're nothing but thieves and beggars.
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John Dunbar : [after Dunbar's suicide attempt at the enemy lines] Don't take off my foot.
General Tide : You rest easy, son. You'll keep your foot. As God is my judge, you'll keep it.
General Tide : [removes his hat in respect and turns to his aide] Bring up my ambulance.
General's Aide : Sir?
General Tide : Bring up my ambulance! And my surgeon with it!
General Tide : [turns back to Dunbar] We got an officer who's worth something lying here.
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[John Dunbar and Wind In His Hair are preparing for Dunbar's wedding to Stands With A Fist]
Wind In His Hair : You know, the man she mourned for... He was my best friend.
John Dunbar : I didn't know that.
Wind In His Hair : He was a good man... It has been hard for me to like you. I am not the thinker Kicking Bird is. I always feel anger first. There were no answers to my questions. But now I think he went away because you were coming. That is how I see it.
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John Dunbar : [voice-over] It was hard to know how to feel. I had never been in a battle like this one. This had not been a fight for territory or riches or to make men free. This battle had no ego. It had been fought to preserve the food stores that would see us through winter, to protect the lives of women and children and loved ones only a few feet away. I felt a pride I had never felt before.
