Bail set for 'Dances With Wolves' actor as police in Canada apply for more charges

Photo: The Canadian Press

Nathan Chasing Horse stands in court. Monday, Feb. 6, 2023, in North Las Vegas, Nev. Nathan Chasing Horse appeared in court for the second time after his arrest on charges of sexual assault and human trafficking. (AP Photo/Ty O'Neil)

UPDATE 4:25 p.m.

Bail has been set at $300,000 for a former actor in the movie "Dances With Wolves" who is facing eight sex-related charges in Nevada as police in Canada say more complainants there have come forward.

Information from the North Las Vegas Court website says if Nathan Chasing Horse can post bail, he could be released on house arrest and would be electronically monitored. He cannot have contact with the complainants or any minors.

Under Nevada law, Chasing Horse would have to pay 15 per cent of the bail — about $45,000.

The 46-year-old actor, who played young Sioux character Smiles a Lot in Kevin Costner’s 1990 Oscar-winning film, was formally charged Monday in North Las Vegas with counts including sex trafficking, sexual assault against a child younger than 16 and child abuse.

Court documents said he was the leader of a cult-like group called “The Circle.”

“Nathan Chasing Horse, by portraying himself as a ‘Holy Man’ or ‘Medicine Man’, has gained the trust of Indigenous families and their children," an arrest report filed in the U.S. said. "Upon earning this trust, Nathan Chasing Horse used his position to lure vulnerable young girls, often giving them a sense of belonging, to commit sexual assault."

Chasing Horse is also facing a charge of sexual assault in British Columbia for allegations in the southern Interior village of Keremeos in September 2018.

The U.S. arrest report alleges the British Columbia woman was 13 years old when she met Chasing Horse while he was performing ceremonies in the province.

Her family sent her to stay with the actor because she was sick and soon she began travelling with him to ceremonies, the report said. She alleges he began to have sex with her when she was 17.

In 2018, after they ended the relationship, she alleges he sexually assaulted her while he was in Canada for a show put on by the Lower Similkameen Indian Band.

The woman reported it to authorities and RCMP contacted Las Vegas police, which prompted the investigation that led to his arrest.

Police in Alberta said they are also in the process of applying for two warrants for formal charges against Chasing Horse in that province.

Sgt. Nancy Farmer with the Tsuut'ina police, which serves the First Nation west of Calgary, said even more charges could be coming.

“We have received several Crime Stoppers tips,” Farmer said Wednesday.

“We’ve spoken to several victims and several witnesses have come forward in relation to the actions of Mr. Chasing Horse.”

U.S. arrest documents detailed how the Alberta police service received a complaint earlier this year from a woman who alleges she was sexually assaulted as a 15-year-old and taken to the United States as one of Chasing Horse’s multiple wives.

The woman said she also met Chasing Horse when he came to her community to do ceremonies. Documents say Chasing Horse allegedly had sex with the teenager multiple times while she was still in Canada.

In 2009, she flew to the U.S. and, not long after when she was 17 years old, he gave her a ring.

“He said it was like a promise ring and I think that was his way of marrying me,” the woman said in the court documents.

That woman eventually returned to Canada because she could no longer take the physical and emotional abuse, the documents said.

The report alleges that Chasing Horse made his wives have sex with other men and take “phoenix tears,” a highly concentrated form of cannabis.

The documents detail how Chasing Horse had all his wives get spider tattoos to represent Iktomi, a trickster spirit in Lakota culture, and a tattoo of his traditional name.

The women were taught to use firearms and, court documents allege, he told the wives about “suicide pills” they’d have to take if he were apprehended by police or died.

Police in the United States said they have identified at least six victims, including one who said she was offered to Chasing Horse as a “gift” when she was 15.

Chasing Horse had already been banned from Fort Peck Indian Reservation in Montana on the grounds of human trafficking in 2015. The same year, the Tsuut'ina band council passed a resolution banning him from all community events in the Alberta community.

Last week, the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations, which represents 74 First Nations in Saskatchewan, also banned Chasing Horse.

ORIGINAL 11 a.m.

Bail was set at $300,000 Wednesday for a former “Dances With Wolves” actor charged in Nevada with sexually abusing and trafficking Indigenous women and girls.

North Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Craig Newman said Nathan Chasing Horse must stay with a relative if he is released from jail. The 46-year-old, who played young Sioux tribe member Smiles a Lot in Kevin Costner’s 1990 Oscar-winning film, would be electronically monitored and have no access to drugs, alcohol or firearms, Newman said. He is barred from contacting any alleged victims or minors.

Under Nevada law, Chasing Horse would have to pay 15% of the bail amount — $45,000 — to secure his release. His cheering supporters declined to talk to reporters as they left court after the brief hearing. Chasing Horse’s public defender did not immediately respond Wednesday morning to requests for comment.

A prosecutor had requested $2 million bail, describing Chasing Horse as a danger to the community and a flight risk.

Authorities say Chasing Horse spent decades building a reputation among tribes in the United States and Canada as a “medicine man.” Authorities accuse him of abusing that position to physically and sexually assault women and girls, and take underage wives.

He was banished from the Fort Peck Reservation in Poplar, Montana, in 2015 following similar allegations, and authorities in British Columbia, Canada, charged Chasing Horse this week in an alleged 2018 sexual assault.

In Nevada, Chasing Horse has been charged with eight felonies, including sex trafficking, sexual assault and child abuse. He has not entered a plea, and his attorneys have not commented on the allegations.

Chief Deputy Clark County District Attorney William Rowles gestured Wednesday toward Chasing Horse’s supporters in the courtroom and said the former actor has a “vast” network of connections in Las Vegas, Canada and Mexico.

Rowles said police found evidence at Chasing Horse’s home last week that he was “in the process of grooming young children to replace others as they grow up to be their wives.”

Chasing Horse's relatives and supporters filled the courtroom Wednesday, as they have for previous hearings since his Jan. 31 arrest near the North Las Vegas home he shares with five women he identifies as his wives.

In a 50-page search warrant and a 53-page arrest report, Las Vegas police described Chasing Horse as the leader of a cult known as The Circle, whose followers believe he communicates with higher powers.

Police said they've identified at least six victims, including one who was 13 when she said she was abused, and another who said she was offered to Chasing Horse as a “gift” when she was 15.

Police SWAT officers took Chasing Horse into custody last week, and detectives said a search of the family home found guns, 41 pounds (18.5 kilograms) of marijuana, psilocybin mushrooms, and cellphone videos showing sexual assaults of minors, according to his arrest report.

Chasing Horse also uses the name Nathan Lee Chasing His Horse. He was born on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota, home to the Sicangu Sioux, one of the seven tribes of the Lakota nation.