Nathan Chasing Horse: who is Dances With Wolves’ Smiles A Lot actor, The Circle cult explained - and charges

A former Dances With Wolves actor has appeared in court in Nevada on charges of trafficking and sexually assaulting native American girls, with the judge postponing Nathan Chasing Horse's application request.

The delay until Wednesday (8 February) to allow Chasing Horse, 46, to change lawyers was announced in a North Las Vegas courtroom full of his friends and relatives who had hoped to see him bailed. Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the courtroom, some of Chasing Horse’s alleged victims and their supporters held placards.

Chasing Horse played the role of Sioux tribe member Smiles a Lot in Kevin Costner’s 1990 Oscar-winning film. Since then, he has built a reputation among tribes across the United States and in Canada as a “medicine man”. Rulon Pete, executive director of the Las Vegas Indian Centre, described the role of the medicine man as a highly respected leadership post. “They’re like priests, if you will,” he said.

Detectives described him in a search warrant as the leader of a cult known as The Circle, whose followers believed he could communicate with higher powers. Police said he abused his position, physically and sexually assaulting Indigenous girls and women and taking underage wives.

Here is everything you need to know about him.

What has he been charged with?

Las Vegas police said Chasing Horse abused his position, physically and sexually assaulted Indigenous girls, and took under-age wives over two decades. The crimes, police said, span multiple states including South Dakota, Montana and Nevada, where he has lived for about a decade.

He will be charged with at least two counts of sex trafficking and one each of sexual assault of a child under 16, child abuse or neglect and sexual assault, according to court records. Authorities have not said when he will be formally charged.

Police said at least six victims had been identified, 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.

According to the search warrant, Chasing Horse trained his wives to use firearms and instructed them to “shoot it out” with any authorities who tried to “break their family apart”. If that failed, or if he was ever arrested or died unexpectedly, he told his wives to take “suicide pills”, the document said. One of Chasing Horse’s former wives told police she believed his current wives would “carry out the instructions” if police went to arrest him.

Detectives searched the family’s home as Swat officers were seen outside the two-storey building. They found guns, 41lbs of marijuana and psilocybin mushrooms, and a memory card with multiple videos of sexual assaults, according to an arrest report that said additional charges could be filed related to the videos.

In 2015, Chasing Horse was banished from the Fort Peck Reservation in Poplar, Montana, following similar allegations. Tribal leaders voted 7-0 to ban him from stepping foot on the reservation again, citing trafficking allegations in addition to accusations of drug dealing, spiritual abuse and intimidation of tribal members, Indian Country Today reported.

What’s next in the trial?

Chasing Horse has been held without bail since his 31 January arrest near the North Las Vegas home he shares with several wives. He is charged with sex trafficking, sexual assault and child abuse. He has not entered a plea. He appeared briefly in court in North Las Vegas on 2 February, but did not speak before Justice of the Peace Belinda Harris scheduled a bail hearing for 6 February.

A judge has postponed Nathan Chasing Horse’s application request until Wednesday 8 February, to allow him to change lawyers. Clark County chief deputy district attorney Jessica Walsh told the judge that she expected evidence from Las Vegas police detectives, FBI special agents and victims. A North Las Vegas justice of the peace could also hear from Chasing Horse’s relatives.

Pete said after the hearing that the victims had been prepared “to help out with making sure justice has been served”.

“Unfortunately, there’s a lot of anxiety they’re experiencing,” he said after speaking with the victims and prosecutors. “When this got pushed back, it was like adding more weight to the situation.”