Buffalo Dance (1894)
1894 · Silent film · dir. W.K.L. Dickson
- Documentary
- Western
Synopsis
Long before Hollywood started painting white men red and dressing them as 'Injuns' Edison's company was using the genuine article! Featuring for what is believed to be the Native Americans first appearance before a motion picture camera 'Buffalo Dance' features genuine members of the Sioux Tribe dressed in full war paint and costume! The dancers are believed to be veteran members of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. Filmed again at the Black Maria studios by both Dickson and Heise the 'Buffalo Dance' warriors were named as Hair Coat, Parts His Hair and Last Horse. Its quite strange seeing these movies at first they all stand around waiting to begin and as they start some of the dancers look at the camera in an almost sad way at having lost their way of life.
Synopsis from TMDb
Details
- Director
- W.K.L. Dickson
- Cinematography
- William Heise
- Studio
- Edison Studios
- Released
- 1894-09-23
Subjects on the Internet Archive
- Native Americans
- Edison
Cast & crew
W.K.L. Dickson Director- Hair Coat
- Parts His Hair
- Last Horse
Reviews on the Internet Archive
★★★★★ · Buffalo Dance - a tragic comedy · victorgeorge · 2006-07-13
Ignoring sarcastic reviewers I think this is one of the most important snippets in the history of the cinema. In just twenty-two seconds we have a glimpse of members of a race of people now totally destroyed or subdued. We see four "Primitives" performing self-consciously before a camera owned by other people who would in time prove to be their "Superiors". We can laugh, but how many of us are able to see the tragic side? This clipping tells me more in a few seconds than some films do in two hours. Awarding stars will do nothing for this clipping, it is, for me, eternal, and I hope it will…
★★★★ · Strange, but Most Likely Authentic · Christine Hennig · 2005-10-01
Some Native Americans perform a buffalo dance. This is pretty strange-looking, but it was probably authentic, given its time period, so I…
★★★★ · Amusing · Robin_1990 · 2008-02-03
I didn't get bored during this film, So I guess it does it's job.
★ · 112 year-old Indian flick · Bob Capps · 2006-07-16
Three Indians stomping around in a circle. One of the Indians is a real ham, one of the very first camera hogs. I watched it three times, still 110 degrees, no rain. Fake!
