Killers of the Flower Moon

I did not see the movie but read the book it is based on. That would be Killers of the Flower Moon, an epic tale of murder and greed.

The Osage Nation reflects the tragic tale of many Native American tribes whose lands were taken and numbers decimated after the coming of whites. And, once they went to a reservation (or designated location), they were abused some more. 

This is not just a "whites are bad" story. Like fear of immigration, the tale of some indigenous group being overridden by newcomers is a worldwide thing. For instance, Aryans in Ancient India supplanted existing residents.

There is an additional tragic wrinkle here. The Osage were able to control their sovereignty somewhat more than other tribes. They had good representation and leadership. This allowed them to negotiate better terms, including better allotment terms and retaining mineral rights for their land. 

Unfortunately, the government still paternally controlled them, including requiring many to have white guardianships. These guardians regularly abused their fiduciary duties. Whites who married members of the tribe to obtain their oil wealth also regularly abused their privileges. 

If this was not bad enough, the book explains how murder (often by poisoning) was used to obtain the wealth of the members. The book and film focus on one particular rich landowner and his nephew, who married a Native woman. 

All three of her sisters and her mother died, and two sisters were clearly murdered (one shot, the other along with her white husband having her house bombed). The other sister and maybe her mother died suspiciously. The last sister also was likely slowly poisoned if saved. 

The FBI, partially as a way for a young J. Edgar Hoover to start his leadership on a good foot, eventually obtained partial justice. Nonetheless, the book shows that the conspiracy was a lot wider than the people eventually charged and prosecuted. This includes the murders of multiple whites who tried to help obtain justice. The early death toll officially was over twenty but in actuality might be in the 100s.   

The oil wealth, besides being misused, eventually largely ran out. The oil boom took place in a short period in the early 20th Century. The book suggests it ran its course by the Great Depression though oil to some extent continued to flow into the 21st Century. The ideal thing to do would have been to carefully invest the money.  

It's a horrible bit of history that is at least being made more well-known. Note that Robert DeNiro plays someone who was like thirty years younger at the time of the events. 

Also, the book drops the name of Charles Curtis, a part-Native American who was then a member of Congress. It does not reference the fact, but he later became Herbert Hoover's vice president. Basically a conservative guy. 

Meanwhile, this week's Svengoolie movie -- The Monster That Challenged The World -- was overall fun. The monster did not quite "challenge the world," but I forgive the title.