“Dances with Wolves” portrayed the Pawnee in a savage, murderous light. It was the Sioux who were treated with kid gloves.
At the beginning of the movie, the Pawnee brutally killed the wagon master.....the guy who led Costner’s character to the abandoned soldier fort.
Also, the white woman.....”Stands with a Fist”.....a flashback scene depicts her entire family under attack, and brutally murdered, by the Pawnee.
War amongst tribes was not unusual long before the white man came to this continent. Tribes scalped one another, enslaved their enemies, and committed atrocities. Some tribes were far more peaceful than others, but some could be, and were, quite violent.
I’ve seen the movie countless times.