A century-old cautionary tale

Robert De Niro (left) and Leonardo Dicaprio star in ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ which delves into racial and family dynamics that rocked Oklahoma when oil was discovered on Osage lands. — TNS

DIRECTOR Martin Scorsese’s new film, Killers of the Flower Moon, tells the true story of a string of murders on the Osage Nation’s land in Oklahoma in the 1920s. Based on David Grann’s meticulously researched 2017 book, the movie delves into racial and family dynamics that rocked Oklahoma to the core when oil was discovered on Osage lands.

White settlers targeted members of the Osage Nation to steal their land and the riches beneath it. At least 60 Osage people were murdered or disappeared between 1921 and 1925. From a historical perspective, this crime, made possible by federal policies from the 1880s, was just the tip of the iceberg.