As one of several features that the Edison Company made of performers from the Buffalo Bill Wild West exhibition, this was probably interesting to its original viewers as a chance to see a more or less authentic 'Indian dance'. As is often the case with the earliest movies, it's of interest now mainly for other reasons.
Like the companion feature "Sioux Ghost Dance" made at the same time, this movie shows several Sioux performing one of their rituals for the camera. This "Buffalo Dance" differs slightly in having only three dancers, while two others accompany them with drums.
What stands out in this one is the unfeigned interest in the camera that the dancers show, frequently staring right at it. It certainly doesn't seem to fit in with the dance itself, and it looks like an unintended but honest reaction to being filmed - which was just as novel an experience for these Sioux as it would have been for anyone else at the time.
These frequent stares at the camera, plus the somewhat artificial background of Edison's 'Black Maria' studio, make it hard to determine to what degree the movie portrays the dance as it would have been done on its own. But it does give this little feature a point of interest.
