{"id":101324,"date":"2026-01-21T08:25:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T13:25:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=101324"},"modified":"2026-01-21T08:25:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T13:25:10","slug":"opening-statements-begin-in-sex-assault-trial-of-dances-with-wolves-actor-nathan-chasing-horse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/21\/opening-statements-begin-in-sex-assault-trial-of-dances-with-wolves-actor-nathan-chasing-horse\/","title":{"rendered":"Opening statements begin in sex assault trial of &#8216;Dances With Wolves&#8217; actor Nathan Chasing Horse"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Jessica Hill LAS VEGAS (AP) \u2014 Prosecutors say Nathan Chasing Horse used his reputation as a Lakota medicine man to prey on Indigenous women and girls and sexually assault them, while his defense attorney said during opening statements at his trial Tuesday that the former actor is being falsely accused. Best known for portraying the character Smiles A Lot in the 1990 movie \u201cDances With Wolves,\u201d Chasing Horse pleaded not guilty to 21 charges, including sexual assault and sexual assault of a minor. The trial marks the climax of a yearslong effort to prosecute Chasing Horse after he was first arrested and indicted in 2023 in a case that sent shock waves through Indian Country. \u201cDances With Wolves\u201d was one of the most prominent films featuring Native Americans when&#8230; <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription &#8211; Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F01%2F21%2Fopening-statements-begin-in-sex-assault-trial-of-dances-with-wolves-actor-nathan-chasing-horse%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Jessica Hill LAS VEGAS (AP) \u2014 Prosecutors say Nathan Chasing Horse used his reputation as a Lakota medicine man to prey on Indigenous women and girls and sexually assault them, while his defense attorney said during opening statements at his trial Tuesday that the former actor is being falsely accused. Best known for portraying the character Smiles A Lot in the 1990 movie \u201cDances With Wolves,\u201d Chasing Horse pleaded not guilty to 21 charges, including sexual assault and sexual assault of a minor. The trial marks the climax of a yearslong effort to prosecute Chasing Horse after he was first arrested and indicted in 2023 in a case that sent shock waves through Indian Country. \u201cDances With Wolves\u201d was one of the most prominent films featuring Native Americans when... <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\"><div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\"><div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div><div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F01%2F21%2Fopening-statements-begin-in-sex-assault-trial-of-dances-with-wolves-actor-nathan-chasing-horse%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-101324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Opening statements begin in sex assault trial of &#039;Dances With Wolves&#039; actor Nathan Chasing Horse - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/21\/opening-statements-begin-in-sex-assault-trial-of-dances-with-wolves-actor-nathan-chasing-horse\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Opening statements begin in sex assault trial of &#039;Dances With Wolves&#039; actor Nathan Chasing Horse - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Jessica Hill LAS VEGAS (AP) \u2014 Prosecutors say Nathan Chasing Horse used his reputation as a Lakota medicine man to prey on Indigenous women and girls and sexually assault them, while his defense attorney said during opening statements at his trial Tuesday that the former actor is being falsely accused. Best known for portraying the character Smiles A Lot in the 1990 movie \u201cDances With Wolves,\u201d Chasing Horse pleaded not guilty to 21 charges, including sexual assault and sexual assault of a minor. The trial marks the climax of a yearslong effort to prosecute Chasing Horse after he was first arrested and indicted in 2023 in a case that sent shock waves through Indian Country. \u201cDances With Wolves\u201d was one of the most prominent films featuring Native Americans when\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/21\/opening-statements-begin-in-sex-assault-trial-of-dances-with-wolves-actor-nathan-chasing-horse\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-01-21T13:25:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"725\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"483\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/21\\\/opening-statements-begin-in-sex-assault-trial-of-dances-with-wolves-actor-nathan-chasing-horse\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/21\\\/opening-statements-begin-in-sex-assault-trial-of-dances-with-wolves-actor-nathan-chasing-horse\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\"},\"headline\":\"Opening statements begin in sex assault trial of &#8216;Dances With Wolves&#8217; 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