"Killers of the Flower Moon" is Martin Scorsese’s latest film that tells the true story of the Osage Nation murders committed by white settlers in the early 1900s. It stars Lily Gladstone, Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert DeNiro.
The Reign of Terror, as it was known, began in the early 1920s after the Osage people became rich from oil, gas and other minerals found in Osage County. These minerals were held in trust by the United States government but were tribally owned. Royalties for these minerals were paid to the Osage and were known as headrights. These headrights could be inherited by non-Osages, which became the motive for white settlers to marry and murder Osage women.
In 'Killers of the Flower Moon,' Lily Gladstone portrays Mollie Burkhart, an Osage woman whose family starts mysteriously dying after she marries a white man named Ernest Burkhart, portrayed by Leonardo Dicaprio.
In a very sinister move, Ernest and his uncle William Hale, portrayed by Robert De Niro, work with other white men to make the deaths of the Osage look like the result of suicides, accidents, and mysterious illnesses.
Actress Lily Gladstone is making history as the first Oscar-nominated Indigenous person for best actress. Gladstone herself is from the Blackfeet Nation and recently made history at the Golden Globes this year by becoming the first Indigenous person to win a Golden Globe.
The Blackfeet Nation that raised her is beaming with pride that the actress is making history.
Guest:
Karin Brulliard is a Washington Post national reporter covering the American West. Her latest article is “Lily Gladstone made history. The Blackfeet Nation found a champion.”
