(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
 . . . . . . . . . .



Re-upping my book review of Killers Of The Flower Moon; join us at The Village, 10/11/23 [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2023-10-11  

I’m not sure when I first heard about Osage Indians being murdered for their wealth, but it was probably in the last couple of years. I was browsing my new library’s website, and spotted this book and put myself on the list for the e-book.

I was hoping to have this book read, and the diary written in November, which is Native American Heritage Month. I wasn’t able to make that happen, but that’s ok because we can celebrate our diverse heritage all year long.

The book begins in 1921 with the telling of the murder of the sister of Mollie Burkhart, an Osage Indian, married to a white man. It wasn’t long before all her sisters, and mother had died under suspicious circumstances or obvious foul play.

The motive for their murders was to gain their ‘headright’ which is their share of oil revenues from the tribe’s retained mineral rights from their prior landholdings. The headrights were inheritable by family, or as specified in wills, and to the white guardians required of too many of the Osage Indians. At the time the Osage were considered the wealthiest people in the world.

In the case of Mollie Burkhart and her family, the plan was for her to inherit the headrights of her murdered sisters and mother. She would then be murdered by her husband who would inherit the entire family’s current and future wealth.

It turns out the murders of Mollie’s family were part of a bigger conspiracy led by William Hale, a deputy sheriff, and a preacher who conscripted others and created a large web of people that ultimately murdered approximately 20 people.

However, as the author, David Grann, discovers during his research there were likely hundreds of Osage Indians murdered for their headrights. Some died violently via gunshot, or bombing, others poisoned slowly, and some purposely intoxicated, and then killed by a drug overdose. These murders involved cooperating doctors, coroners, along with huge parts of the white community.

Particularly poignant is the story of two young children orphaned by the murders of their parents. Their father, William Stepson, was murdered first so that one of the conspirators, Kelsie Morrison, (who also murdered one of Mollie Burkhart’s sister Anna Brown), could then marry his widow, Tillie who was also murdered. While Morrison was in prison for the murder of Anna Brown, sister of Mollie Burkhart, he sent a letter to William Hale describing his desire to kill the two children.

The note filled with grammatical errors, said, “Bill, you Tillies kids are going to have 2 or 3 hundred thousand dollars in a few years, and I have those kids adopted. How can I get possession or control of that money when I get out. You know I believe I can take these kids out of the State and they cant do a dam thing...they Could not get me for Kidnapping.” It was feared that Morrison planned to kill both children. An Osage scholar once observed, “Walking through an Osage cemetery and seeing the gravestones that show the inordinate numbers of young people who died in the period is chilling.”

As if these murders weren’t enough to provide motivation for this book, or my diary, there’s more. Grann also writes about the offensiveness of laws that required most of the Osage to have white guardians.

The U.S. government, contending that many Osage were unable to handle their money, had required the Office of Indian Affairs to determine which members of the tribe it considered capable of managing their trust funds. Over the tribe’s vehement objections, many Osage, including Lizzie and Anna, were deemed “incompetent,” and were forced to have a local white guardian overseeing and authorizing all of their spending, down to the toothpaste they purchased at the corner store. One Osage who had served in World War I complained, “I fought in France for this country, and yet I am not allowed even to sign my own checks.” The guardians were usually drawn from the ranks of the most prominent white citizens in Osage County.

I’m sure you can tell where this is going — Theft of Osage money, leaving some poor and hungry; the indignity of having to get permission to spend your money; quality of life, and life/death issues dependent on the whims, motivations and honesty of a guardian.

The government’s interference in the Osage tribe is not limited to just the Osage. We know it took different forms with many tribes, be it by forcing children to go to Indian schools, and adopting them out to white families to name a couple. The US government has also unilaterally failed to enforce treaties much to the detriment of Natives across the country.

In closing, I want to circle back to the Reign of Terror, as these murders were called, and honor the lives, and legacies lost by the brutal murders of innocent Osage peoples. I think the author does a good job with this paragraph from the last chapter.

In cases where perpetrators of crimes against humanity elude justice in their time, history can often provide at least some final accounting, forensically documenting the murders and exposing the transgressors. Yet so many of the murders of the Osage were so well concealed that such an outcome is no longer possible. In most cases, the families of the victims have not sense of resolution. Many descendants carry out their own private investigations, which have no end. They live with doubts, suspecting dead relatives or old family friends or guardians-some of whom might be guilty and some of whom might be innocent. (From the chapter, Blood Cries Out)

The Osage Nation still receives payouts from their headrights, and according to their website, 25% of the headrights are owned by non-Osage members. www.osagenation-nsn.gov/…

I highly recommend the book, and there are lots of articles about the book available online.

[END]
---
[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/10/11/2197462/-Re-upping-my-book-review-of-Killers-Of-The-Flower-Moon-join-us-at-The-Village-10-11-23?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web

Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.

via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/