Now a major motion picture, this book examines the 1920's reign of terror and violence perpetrated by leading (White) citizens against the oil-rich members of the Osage Nation. Yet another shameful example of the exploitation of a minority in the Land of the Free--probably Moms for Liberty will want to ban book and movie, lest any White children feel bad about their ancestors.
I had known that some Native American groups, who'd been forced from their homelands because White settlers wanted the land, had been removed to barren, unpromising territory which later proved to be oil-rich. It seemed like a fine, ironic turn of events.
What I didn't know is that The Government, in its so-called wisdom, had deemed the Native Americans incapable of administering the fortunes that accrued to them through their headrights. And so (White) guardians were appointed for these individuals.
Many of the guardians took advantage of their positions to skim off vast amounts of money. Some went even further.
Some of these guardians had multiple possessors of headrights in their care. But that wasn't enough. And so began the mysterious spate of deaths among the wealthy Osage.
Due to the unwillingness/inability of local law enforcement to act, eventually the fledgling FBI became involved. And that's another interesting story.
Killers of the Flower Moon is a fascinating tale of venality and corruption, the extent of which will probably never be fully known. A necessary read.
(An aside: isn't that a great title! As it turns out though, it has only the most tenuous link to the events. Ah, well.)
