“Dances With Wolves” actor Nathan Lee Chasing His Horse, also known as Nathan Chasing Horse, was ordered held without bail until his next hearing by a Nevada judge Thursday.
The former actor, age 46, has been accused of sex trafficking, sexual assault against a child younger than 16 and child abuse while allegedly leading a cult. He was arrested on Tuesday afternoon near the North Las Vegas home which he shares with his five wives.
Best known for his role as Sioux tribe member Smiles a Lot in Kevin Costner’s Oscar-winning blockbuster “Dances with Wolves,” Chasing Horse was born in on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota. He followed up that role with parts in “The Broken Chain,” “Into the West” and “Dreamkeeper.”
He did not speak during his first courtroom appearance before Justice of the Peace Belinda Harris scheduled a bail hearing for Monday, according to an Associated Press report. Chasing Horse has not yet been formally charged.
A separate judge will likely rule regarding Chasing Horse’s custody status on Monday and could set bail after hearing from attorneys and investigators.
Public defender Michael Wilfong stated that the defendant has “a great deal of support,” while both Wolfang and Chasing Horse’s relatives declined to comment as they exited the courtroom.
Chasing Horse gained a reputation among tribes in North America as a would-be medicine man who performed healing ceremonies.
He is believed to be the leader of a cult called The Circle whose followers believed he could communicate with higher powers. Police allege that he physically and sexually assaulted Indigenous girls and took underage wives over a two-decade span.
Angeline Cheek, a community organizer from the Fort Peck Reservation, told the AP she remembers the tensions that arose inside the tribal council chambers when Chasing Horse was banished.
“There are good medicine men and medicine women among our people who are not trying to commercialize the sacred ways of our ancestors,” Cheek said. “They’re supposed to heal people, not harm.”
