generalize
- Killers of the Flower Moon reveals a horrific reign of terror in which hundreds of Osages were murdered for their oil wealth.
- The Osage Nation, once the richest per capita in the United States, suffered as white guardians restricted their access to their wealth.
- The Osage murders remain largely unsolved, with countless victims missing, their bodies never found, and corruption and racism standing in the way of justice.
Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower MoonAdapted from Daniel Grann’s book of the same name, it tells the horrific history of the Osage Nation and the hundreds of murders that occurred between 1910 and 1931, which became known as the “Reign of Terror” ”) what happened after that. Killers of the Flower Moon The true story takes place during a time of racial violence in the United States, and the Osage tribe is led by William Hale (Robert De Niro) and his nephew Ernest Hale (Leonardo DiCaprio). ) and other opportunists did not attract attention. That is until Molly Burkhardt (Lily Gladstone) buried her entire family years later.
People like the Hales, who made their money from cattle rather than oil, sought ownership of the “black gold” found on Osage lands and married into Osage families in order to inherit by brutally murdering each member until they Osage family property to acquire this wealth. assets. The systematic extermination of the Osage people, the majority of whom were women, came at the expense of their institutions and culture, and while 80 murders were solved, an estimated hundreds remain unsolved and may never be solved .to the end of the year Killers of the Flower Moonjustice was served to an extent, but not nearly to the extent that the Osage Nation deserved.
Who are the Osage?true historical explanation
The Osage Nation, the French meaning of the tribal name Wazhazhe (roughly translated as “calm water”), was the first American tribe of the Great Plains, originating in west-central Ohio and Mississippi in 700 B.C. area. In the 17th century they migrated to the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, and by the 19th century the tribe had become the dominant group in the area. Neighboring tribes in the Ozarks, Wichita Mountains, Missouri, and Red River areas all feared the Osage, who relied primarily on agriculture and buffalo hunting and perished.
The Osage were forced to move from what is now Kansas to Indian Territory in Oklahoma, where they discovered oil that changed their destiny. With shared mining rights, many Osages gained wealth by leasing their headland rights, and then their white neighbors saw the opportunity to manipulate, defraud, and murder them. In 2011, the Osage Nation obtained a settlement from the U.S. government that addressed mismanagement of its oil fund, providing assistance to its 20,000 registered members, only a third of whom still live within its jurisdiction.
Osage Guardianship and Capitation Rights
After the Osage seemed to spend their oil money recklessly, Congress decided the tribe was unfit to manage their wealth, so they passed a law in 1921 that appointed white guardians for each family to own the oil on their land of ownership. The guardian determines whether a family member is “able” or “incapable” and, accordingly, determines whether their purchasing power is limited. Where once an Osage man or woman could buy a new Pierce Arrow or send their children to the best schools in Europe, now they must get approval from strangers to buy a toothbrush.
Osage head rights passed to close relatives of “half-blood” or “full-blood” members of the tribe, which is what attracted guardians (and other whites) to try to marry Osage women. Once that’s done, they either poison them (called a “wasting disease”) or kill them, usually by passing homeless people who don’t associate them with the crime. The estate and all its funds would then be transferred to the Osage children, and by default the husband who cared for them would take over all their accounts.
How rich were the Osage people?
At the time of the Osage murders, the Osage were among the wealthiest Americans per capita, and tribal members could buy luxury cars, hire drivers, eat imported oysters and live in mansions. Once guardianship is in place, their spending is closely monitored, so even groceries and medicines are scrutinized individually if they are deemed to be excessive. Slowly, interlopers and infiltrators used and abused Osage oil money until the descendants of anyone alive during the Reign of Terror will never know what kind of lavish lifestyle their ancestors once enjoyed.
Today, the Osage live on a 1,470,559-acre reservation but are not as wealthy as they once were and, like many reservations in the United States, rely on federal assistance to operate. Fortunately, the benefits of the oil industry enabled many Osages to receive quarterly royalties representing their ancestral head rights, even if these payments did not provide any luxury. Of the five prominent tribes in Oklahoma, the Chickasaw remains the wealthiest.
How many people died in the Osage Murders?
Over 80 people died during the Reign of Terror, including William Hale, Ernest Hale, Byron Hale and other opportunists, but these were only the known victims.As several Osage Ehlers pointed out Killers of the Flower Moon, hundreds of Osages died under mysterious circumstances to claim rights to their heads, but not all could be identified or even their bodies found. They simply disappeared, while local law enforcement and county officials covered up the horrific murders with so much bureaucratic red tape that the families were left to grieve and worry about which of them would be next.
Even now, some members of the Osage Nation are horrified to discover as they comb through family records that falsified autopsy reports that claimed suicides and accidents were actually brutal murders.as Killers of the Flower Moon It was clear from the outset that many of the bodies had been thrown into ravines, left on the roadside, thrown into rivers, or buried never to be seen again, while the coroner reported that the bullet to the back of the head was a self-inflicted wound. Not man-made. execution. This film exposes the shockingly common reality of Osage murders.
What Happened to the Osage Nation After Killers of the Flower Moon
After the Bureau of Investigation sent agents to Oklahoma to hunt down the Osage murderers, and various courts determined that William, Byron, and Ernest Hale were the culprits, the Osage Nation tried to move on from the tragedy.radio drama, such as the last radio drama performed Killers of the Flower Moonmade the rest of the country aware of the injustice and pain they suffered and built support for their cause, but pervasive racism and prejudice still make it difficult for the Osage to reclaim their lands and accounts.
Scorsese chose to include other major historical events, such as the Tulsa race riots and the rise of the Ku Klux Klan, to highlight the abhorrent hate crimes that were rampant in America while the Osage Nation was fighting for justice. William Hale died at the age of 87, and Ernest and Byron served their time and lived out the rest of their lives together.Several books have been written about the Osage murders, including one Killers of the Flower Moon But unfortunately, even with renewed interest, records helping surviving relatives recover their estate have been lost or destroyed.