Die Söhne der grossen Bärin (The Sons of Great Bear)

1966, color, 98 min. Feature/Western
Dir.: Josef Mach
Script: Liselotte Welskopf-Henrich
Camera: Jaroslav Tuzar
Music: Wilhelm Neef
Cast: Gojko Mitic, Jiri Vrstala, Rolf Römer, Hans Hardt-Hardtloff
VHS-NTSC, English subtitles:
DVD-NTSC, English subtitles:

Synopsis:

Although the Indians were assured their lands adjacent to the Black Hills by contract, the Whites want to expel them. Meanwhile, gold has been discovered there and the unscrupulous settler, Red Fox, demands of Mattotaupa, chief of the Bears Clan belonging to the Dakota tribe, to reveal to him the location of a cave with gold deposits. Mattotaupa refuses and is stabbed to death by Red Fox in the presence of his son Tokei-ihto.  Lieutenant Roach orders Tokei-ihto to Fort Smith in order to negotiate. The son of the slain chief suspects that the Whites are planning an ambush, a fear that is confirmed when he encounters Red Fox there. Tokei-ihto refuses to move to a reservation in an infertile area with his tribe and is incarcerated. When the Dakota Indians have been defeated and resettled, he is released. Tokei-ihto learns of the murder of the senior chief Tashunka-witko. Tokei-ihto now wants to fulfill his legacy, escaping with the subgroup of his tribe to the fertile areas beyond the Missouri in Canada. While the members of the Bears Clan cross the border, Tokei-ihto encounters Red Fox, his father's murderer. A final life-and-death battle ensues and Tokei-ihto emerges as victor. This production began the most successful series of films at the box office in the history of East German cinema.