You remember the scene. It’s 1863 on the vast, wind-swept plains of the Kansas territory. A young Lakota boy, eyes wide with a mix of mischief and pure adrenaline, tries to steal a horse from the "Loon" (Lieutenant John Dunbar). He doesn't just try; he fails, gets caught, and flashes a grin that earns him a name. That’s Smiles A Lot in Dances with Wolves, played by the then-unknown Nathan Lee Chasing His Horse.
He was the heart of the youth in that camp.
Most people watch Kevin Costner’s 1990 masterpiece and focus on the sweeping vistas or the tragic romance between Dunbar and Stands with a Fist. But for those of us who grew up obsessed with the historical accuracy—or lack thereof—of the Western genre, Smiles A Lot represented something more grounded. He wasn't a stoic caricature. He was a kid. He was clumsy. He was trying to find his footing in a world that was about to be swallowed by the expansion of the United States.
The Face of the Next Generation
Nathan Lee Chasing His Horse was only about 14 or 15 during filming. He didn't have a massive resume. Honestly, that’s why it worked. When you look at Smiles A Lot in Dances with Wolves, you aren't seeing a polished Hollywood child actor hitting marks. You’re seeing a Lakota teen portraying a Lakota teen.
His character arc is subtle but heavy.
Initially, he’s the comic relief. Think about the scene where they’re trying to figure out what Dunbar is doing at the abandoned Fort Sedgwick. While the elders like Kicking Bird are cautious and philosophical, Smiles A Lot is driven by that classic teenage desire for glory. He wants a horse. He wants a story to tell.
But then the buffalo hunt happens.
This is the turning point for the character and the film's depiction of the Lakota way of life. When the tribe finally locates the herd, the energy shifts from survivalist tension to communal triumph. Smiles A Lot isn't just a spectator anymore. He’s a participant. He's learning the brutal, necessary mechanics of providing for his people. It’s one of the few times in 90s cinema where a Native American coming-of-age story wasn't buried under heavy-handed metaphors. It was just there, in the blood and the dust.
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Why Smiles A Lot Matters More Than We Thought
It's easy to dismiss the younger characters in epic dramas. We usually focus on the "Great Men" making "Great Decisions." But Smiles A Lot in Dances with Wolves serves a specific narrative function: he represents the future that the ending of the movie tells us is being erased.
The film concludes with a heartbreaking title card. It notes that the buffalo were gone and the horse culture of the plains was coming to an end within thirteen years of the story's conclusion.
If you do the math, Smiles A Lot would have been in his late 20s or early 30s when the Wounded Knee Massacre occurred in 1890. That’s the unspoken tragedy of his character. Every time he grins or successfully wrangles a horse, the audience—if they know their history—feels a pang of sadness. We know what’s coming for him. We know that the joy he finds in the Lakota lifestyle is on a ticking clock.
Costner, who directed the film, actually caught a lot of flak from some historians for the "White Savior" tropes, and yeah, those critiques have some merit. However, the casting of the Lakota characters was a massive step forward. They spoke Lakota. They had humor. Smiles A Lot was a huge part of that humanization. He wasn't a warrior yet; he was a "becoming."
The Reality of Nathan Lee Chasing His Horse
It's impossible to talk about the character today without addressing the real-life person behind him. For years, fans of the movie looked back at Nathan Lee Chasing His Horse as a symbol of cultural pride. He appeared in other projects like The Broken Chain and Into the West. He became a public figure within the community.
But reality is often messier and darker than the movies.
In recent years, the actor's legacy has been completely overshadowed by serious legal issues. In early 2023, he was arrested and faced significant charges related to leading a cult and various counts of abuse. It’s a jarring contrast to the innocent, smiling boy on the screen.
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As a film historian or even just a casual fan, you have to grapple with that. How do we watch Smiles A Lot in Dances with Wolves now? It’s the classic "separate the art from the artist" dilemma. For many, the character still represents a breakthrough in Indigenous representation, even if the man who played him took a very different path in his later life.
It’s a reminder that the "pure" images we see in cinema are often disconnected from the complicated humans who portray them.
What Dances with Wolves Got Right (and Wrong)
If you're revisiting the movie because of the nostalgia for characters like Smiles A Lot, you’ve probably noticed how well the production holds up. The costumes, designed by Elsa Zamparelli, were nominated for an Oscar for a reason. They used real materials—buckskin, bone, feathers—to avoid the "costumey" look of 1950s Westerns.
The Lakota language used in the film was also a big deal. Doris Leader Charge, who played Pretty Shield (the wife of Chief Ten Bears), was actually a Lakota language instructor at Sinte Gleska University. She taught the actors their lines.
- The Accuracy: The portrayal of the buffalo hunt was incredibly complex to film. They used a real herd of 3,500 buffalo on the Triple U Ranch in South Dakota.
- The Inaccuracy: While the Lakota are the heroes, the Pawnee are depicted as one-dimensional villains. History shows the Pawnee were often fighting for survival against Lakota expansion, making the "good vs. bad" dynamic a bit skewed.
- The Legacy: It was the first Western to win Best Picture since Cimarron in 1931.
Smiles A Lot's interactions with the Pawnee scouts in the film are brief but intense. They highlight the tribal warfare that existed long before the "white man" arrived, adding a layer of realism that many contemporary films ignored.
Re-watching the Performance Today
When you watch the scene where Dunbar gives Smiles A Lot his knife, it’s a moment of cross-cultural bonding. It’s simple. No long speeches. Just a gift between a man who has lost his way and a boy who is just finding his.
Actually, that’s probably the most "human" part of the whole three-hour epic.
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The film’s pacing is slow by today's standards. We’re used to Marvel-speed editing. But Dances with Wolves breathes. It allows you to sit with the characters. You feel the heat of the fire and the cold of the winter. Smiles A Lot is often in the background of these scenes, just being part of the fabric of the village. He's the one playing with the dogs or helping move the travois.
It’s these small details that make the movie feel less like a "flick" and more like a captured memory.
Actionable Takeaways for Movie Buffs and Historians
If you’re interested in the era or the specific portrayal of characters like Smiles A Lot in Dances with Wolves, don't just stop at the movie. Cinema is a gateway, not a destination.
- Check out the 50th Anniversary Edition: If you can find it, the extended "Director’s Cut" adds nearly an hour of footage. It fleshes out the secondary Lakota characters much more than the theatrical release. You see more of the daily life that Smiles A Lot was part of.
- Read "The Lakota Way" by Joseph M. Marshall III: If you want to understand the actual values being portrayed by the characters in the camp—fortitude, wisdom, bravery—this is the book. It puts the fictional Smiles A Lot into a real cultural context.
- Visit the Black Hills: If you’re ever in South Dakota, the locations are still there. You can feel the scale of the landscape that made the movie feel so massive. The Triple U Ranch, where the buffalo hunt was filmed, remains a significant site.
- Support Modern Indigenous Cinema: If you liked the representation in Dances with Wolves, look into modern projects like Reservation Dogs or Killers of the Flower Moon. The industry has moved from having white protagonists (like Dunbar) to letting Indigenous characters tell their own stories from the center.
The Lasting Impression
In the end, Smiles A Lot remains a bittersweet figure. He is a snapshot of a youth that was about to be irrevocably changed by the closing of the frontier.
He didn't need to say much to be memorable. That’s the power of the performance. Whether he was failing to steal "Cisco" or cheering during the hunt, he gave the Lakota camp a sense of joy and vitality. It's a shame that the actor's later life took such a dark turn, but the character—that specific version of a Lakota boy in 1863—continues to be a touchstone for one of the most significant Westerns ever made.
Next time you put on the Blu-ray, watch him in the background. Don't just watch Costner. Watch the kid. Watch the way he looks at the elders with a mix of reverence and "I can do that better." That’s where the real story lives.