Dances with Wolves actor exposed as polygamist cult leader; arrested for sex trafficking and child abuse
Nathan Lee Chasing His Horse leads a cult known as “The Circle”; targets vulnerable Indigenous girls using “spiritual traditions”
Las Vegas, NV. Former actor and alleged cult leader Nathan Lee Chasing His Horse faces at least five felony charges for sexual assault and sex trafficking while leading a cult called “The Circle”.
Chasing Horse may be best known for his role as “Smiles a Lot”, the young Souix tribe member in Oscar-winning film “Dances With Wolves” starring Kevin Costner.
LVMPD Police raided the home of Nathan Chasing Horse, 46, in North Las Vegas late January that he reportedly shares with his five wives after obtaining a 50-page search warrant accusing the former actor of the criminal activity.
During the investigation, officers found multiple firearms and mind-altering substances including psilocybin mushrooms and 41lbs of marijuana. The arrest report also notes that officers found a memory card containing video evidence of multiple sexual assaults at the residence.
The Guardian reports that a warrant was obtained after several months of investigation when authorities received a tip in October 2022, though allegations of abuse date back as far as the early 2000s in Canada and in states including South Dakota, Montana, and Nevada.
The search warrant stated that authorities had identified at least six victims, some as young as 13-years old, Global News reports. The warrant describes young girls offered to Chasing Horse as a “gift”, adding to his collection of young brides after turning only 15 or 16-years old.
“Nathan Chasing Horse used spiritual traditions and their belief system as a tool to sexually assault young girls on numerous occasions”, the warrant states, adding that followers of the cult referred to Chasing Horse as a “Medicine Man” or a “Holy Person”.
Chasing Horse, a South Dakota native born on the Rosebud Reservation was a member of the Sicango Sioux, one of the seven nations of the Lakota Nation.
Though the arrest in January was primarily issued in connection with crimes allegedly committed in Clark County, Nevada, the warrant includes harrowing details of crimes in several locations, including a report that Chasing Horse was banished in 2015 from the Fort Peck Reservation in Poplar, Montana due to allegations of human trafficking.
Indian Country Today reports that tribal leaders of the Fort Peck Reservation voted 7–0 to ban Chasing Horse, citing trafficking, drug dealing, spiritual abuse and intimidation of tribal members. Angeline Cheek, activist and community organizer at the reservation, remembers tension on the reservation when supporters of Chasing Horse told members “something bad was going to happen to them”, she told the Associated Press.
Authorities believe Chasing Horse physically and sexually assaulted girls and women, taking young wives and leading the cult. Reports also surfaced that the cult leader was accused of receiving payment from other men to whom he offered young women for sexual acts.
The warrant states that Chasing Horse trained his underage wives to use firearms. Under the pretense that the law would attempt to “break their family apart”, the young women were prepared to “shoot it out” with police. If they failed, the wives were instructed to take “suicide pills”, according to NBC Los Angeles.
On February 8, 2023 a judge set bail at $300,000 for Nathan Chasing Horse, though state attorneys had initially asked for a bail to be set at $2 Million, due to Chasing Horse being a “danger to the community” as well as a “risk of flight”, KTNV reports.
According to Fox News, some of the victims were in the courtroom, seated alongside their supporters, including Chasing Horse’s estranged daughter, Quannah.
In addition to the $300,000 bail, Chasing Horse was ordered to avoid contact with any minors — including his own children — and he is banned from having any contact with firearms, drugs or alcohol. He has been equipped with a high-level electronic monitoring device.
