Big Elk and Che-wee-na, both of the Great Bear tribe, are engaged to be married. White Wolf, the son of the chief of another tribe, offers to buy Che-wee-na; when her father refuses, Little Wolf challenges Big Elk to a physical contest that Big Elk wins. Embittered, Little Wolf provokes a war between the tribes, abducting Che-wee-na while Big Elk and the other Great Bear warriors are away from their camp. Che-wee-na feigns insanity among Little Wolf's people, who think that she is in communication with the great spirits. She wins the gratitude of the tribe when she nurses a sick child to health, but in so doing incurs the jealousy of the tribe's medicine man, who accuses her of poisoning the tribe's water supply.
Before the White Man Came (1920) is currently not available on any services.
John E. Maple
Northwestern Film Corporation
