The 'Killers Of The Flower Moon' Villain Mirrors Rockefeller

*SPOILER ALERT*

First off, I just want to say hello to all my new followers. There has been a lot of engagement the last few days and I am glad to have your attention.

This post will include some of the plot points in the recent Scorcese film Killers of the Flower Moon. For those of you who intend to see this nearly three-and-a-half-hour film, be aware that there are some spoilers below.

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In the early 1800s, the Osage Indians were quite dominant in what would now be parts of Missouri, Oklahoma, Kansas and Arkansas. As European Americans began expanding westward, the U.S. government saw the Osage as a threat. After a series of treaties, the Osage would cede much of their land to the federal government and ended up relocating several times. In 1872, the Osage Nation would buy their own reservation in Oklahoma—approximately 1.47 million acres—in which they would retain mineral rights on the land.

In 1894, large quantities of oil were found underneath the Osage reservation and these families suddenly became some of the richest in the nation. This wealth would attract European Americans who were interested in the headrights (land rights). Because the federal government didn’t approve of how the Osage used their wealth, Congress passed a law in 1921 which required any Osage of half or more Indian ancestry to be appointed a guardian (typically a white man) that would oversee their funds. As you can imagine, many of these men took advantage of the Osage people.

Robert De Niro as William K. Hale in Killers of the Flower Moon.

Based on real events, Killers of the Flower Moon centers around a string of murders within the Osage Nation. Robert De Niro plays the affluent rancher William K. Hale, a man who has integrated himself with the Indian community. He encourages his nephews Ernest (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Byron (Scott Shepherd) to marry into a particular family with an all-female bloodline. Among the four sisters is Mollie (Lily Gladstone) who would marry and later have a child with Ernest. One by one, the women would turn up dead for various reasons—some more obviously linked to murder than others. Other Osage people would also turn up dead. All initial investigations were thwarted by a team of brazen, violent criminals.

The Osage Nation suspected white men of committing these atrocious acts, but they didn’t point the finger at Hale. In fact, Hale offered $1000 to anyone with information leading to the perpetrators. Of course the person who had the information would have to report to Hale, who would then be in control of what happened with that evidence. Eventually, some of the Osage would travel to Washington D.C. and pay the fledgling Bureau of Investigation a sum of $20,000 to investigate the murders. Led by agent Tom White—a former Texas ranger played by Jesse Plemons—the Bureau would take on their first homicide cases.

Jesse Plemons as agent Tom White in Killers of the Flower Moon.

Evidence started to suggest Hale and his nephews were not only attempting to swindle a family out of headrights through murder, but they had also committed multiple acts of insurance fraud. Hale, however, remained relatively unfazed as things unfolded. He reminded the Osage people that he brought them schools and medicine—controversial modernities that would be presented as philanthropy while being weaponized against them. In a way, Hale was a small-time John D. Rockefeller who captured both mainstream American education (to ensure there would be an obedient workforce) and medicine (to make enormous profits selling poison with good branding). These issues are incredibly relevant to this very day.

In the end, Hale and his nephews would take the fall, but their life sentences would be drastically reduced. The myth of the American Dream seems to run cover for an ugly history of thieves and murderers. These criminals have since consolidated their power and now run even more sophisticated operations. Just like the Osage Nation didn’t immediately smell a rat under their noses back in the 1920s, we have an issue identifying deception today.

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