Copyright © 2001 NLThomas
All Rights Reserved

When Michael Blake wrote "Dances with Wolves," the book was intended to be about the Comanche Indians. His research indicated that the Comanche did not have access to large herds of buffalo and their native language was limited.

The subsequent screenplay and movie was then moved to the lands of the Lakota in South Dakota where there was a bounty of buffalo and most Lakota did speak their own language.

In collaboration with Kevin Costner, the script was re-written to include many Lakota speakers. Costner and the other actors not acquainted with the Lakota language were coached by Doris Leader Charge, an instructor from the high schools and Sinte Gleska (Spotted Tail) University on the Rosebud Reservation.

The movie took many Academy Awards in 1991. The highlight of the awards ceremony for the Lakota people was when Blake went up to receive his Academy Award for Best Screenplay. He had made up his mind that he would honor the Lakota people by having Doris Leader Charge walk to the podium with him.

Blake wanted Doris to translate his English into Lakota. I don't know if this has ever happened at an Academy Award presentation before, but there were many Lakota people cheering Doris on that night. Dressed elegantly in a pale blue evening gown, Doris was a picture of Lakota beauty.

Mrs. Leader Charge passed away this year. Hundreds attended her funeral on the Rosebud Reservation. She was honored and loved by many. Michael Blake cried when he heard of her passing.

And now, after 13 years, Blake is back with the sequel to "Dances with Wolves." It is entitled, "The Holy Road". Blake said there were many reasons it took so long for the sequel. "I needed the that time to summon the courage to write the book. The degree of difficulty in writing a sequel was always going to be high, but it was higher because of the emotional connection I felt with the characters and the story. I didn't want to face the pain," he said.

Blake said he got the idea for "Dances with Wolves" from an obscure happening in history. He read a book about a wagon driver taking supplies to a far-flung fort and all he found there was a flapping piece of canvas on a sod hut. "I thought, what would I have done had I been accompanying that soldier to the fort?" From this thought grew the book and the movie.

Blake's great grandfather was a soldier in what he calls the "Apache Wars." The Apache, of course, call them the "American Wars." His uncle wrote historical novels about the west so Blake was exposed to the history of the Southwest and the Comanche at an early age. He credits the book "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" as a book that brought all of the details home to him. He said he was stunned by the book.

"Three years ago I kicked around the Comanche-Kiowa country in West Texas and Oklahoma, and I was amazed by the conditions of the country. It's all still there. The things I was imagining came to life, particularly the Palo Duro Canyon."

Blake said most Americans have never heard of the canyon and do not know that it is the second largest canyon in the world. In 1874 the U. S. Cavalry rounded up all of the horses of the Comanche and Kiowa, herded them into Palo Duro Canyon, and then slaughtered them. "This is a terrible part of U. S. history most Americans know little or nothing about.

The military objective was to unhorse the Comanche with the knowledge that if they were without horses, they would be without mobility and hence without power. "Less than a year later, everyone was on the reservation," Blake said.

Blake said that it was this battle or incident that broke the power of the Southern Tribes forever.

"The Holy Road" is now being prepared for the big screen. Blake is writing the screen play and he is going to produce the movie himself. He said, "Kevin Costner wasn't interested in the sequel. He said he was still recovering from 'Dances with Wolves'."

An Englishman named Barry Spiking will be co-producer and director.

In the meantime, Blake is pursing one of his favorite ventures. He is helping to publicize and lobby for the proposed project known as Buffalo Commons. Buffalo Commons is the idea of Frank and Deborah Popper, professors at Rutgers University. Their proposal to set aside large tracts of lands in the Plains States to provide pasture lands for herds of buffalo was recently endorsed by the Rosebud Sioux Tribe.

Blake said in a phone interview, "Cattle ranches are going under and the buffalo is coming back. In the 1980s there were less than 500 buffalo and now there's over 300,000. There's buffalo meat and buffalo jerky and robes and shoes. I just bought a pair of buffalo shoes. They're tough, comfortable - marvelous." Of course the Plains Indians have known this for thousands of years.

For those of you who loved "Dances with Wolves," the sequel will probably surprise you because many of the same characters will be back, except this time they are not Lakota; they are Comanche. Wind in His Hair, Smiles a Lot and the rest of the gang just changed tribes.

Blake's new book, "The Holy Road" is now available in bookstores and libraries. In the meantime, Blake is out on the book circuit to publicize the book and to lobby for the Buffalo Commons.

Tim Giago is Oglala Lakota and owner/publisher of the Lakota Journal. Mr. Giago's Lakota name is Nanwica Kciji, which means, "Stands Up for Them." Contact by sending e-mail to: editor@lakotajournal.com or write: P.O. Box 3080, Rapid City, South Dakota.