56 pages 1 hour read

Michael Blake

Dances with Wolves

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1988

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Chapters 21-26Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 21 Summary

At camp, Dunbar sits with Kicking Bird and they smoke a pipe as villagers stop by to greet the soldier. His new name races through the camp. The people begin to think of him as some sort of medicine man.

Wind In His Hair and Kicking Bird consult, then bring Dunbar with them to the rear of Kicking Bird’s tent, where they construct a small arbor of willow poles and brush. The men place Dunbar inside the lean-to, then Kicking Bird bring Stands With A Fist and they join Dunbar inside the arbor. Stands With A Fist has been carefully dressed in finery, her hair done up.

Kicking Bird watches as Dunbar and Stands With A Fist continue their review of English words. She decides to teach him her name, miming its parts until Dunbar understands, then saying the Comanche version until he has it. She teaches him other names, including Ten Bears. Dunbar asks for a piece of charcoal and uses it to write the names phonetically on a piece of bark.

Both Dunbar and Kicking Bird notice the light in Stands With A Fist’s eyes as she teaches.