David Grann
Nonfiction 2017/ 362 pages
"In the 1920's the richest people per capita in the world were members of the Osage Indian Nation in Oklahoma." (Back cover)
After oil was discovered beneath their land (and was specifically and surprisingly excluded from the contract the Indian Nations had with the US government) the Osage built mansions, educated their children anywhere in the world they wished, and were driven around in fancy automobiles. By any standards, this Nation had come into extraordinary amounts of money delivered by the slimy black substance beneath their dry land.
And then, members of the Osage Nation began to be murdered. At least 24 were murdered in a few short years, through guns, poison, tampered cars, and in one case, a devastating house explosion. (Current researchers and scholars believe this number is woefully inadequate and that there may have been scores, even hundreds, of murders.) As this blight was visited upon this remote part of Oklahoma, many of the dead were related to one another in this relatively small community. And, bit by bit, land and untold fortunes changed hands.
In the same time frame, the FBI was being formed and was led by J. Edgar Hoover, who attempted to ferret out the murderers from his office in Washington D C.
The information, painstakingly researched by Grann, is astounding. The majority of the book puts names, faces, history, and connections to the Indians (their word then) who were murdered and the family members who suffered as a result, emotionally, physically, psychologically, and financially. I found the formation of the FBI and the identification of the investigators who traveled to Oklahoma to search for answers a bit boring, and this section moved my rating of Killers of the Flower Moon from four hearts to three.
What is shocking is how this critical, important, and essential part of our history was not (is not?) taught in our schools. How could we (I?) not know about this blight upon our country? It is important to learn of this time and to read this book. Not a page-turning novel, but a true and accurate account of a truly devastating time in our history as a nation.
June 2024
I read this book several years ago and, like you, was moved by it. It’s another outrageous, infuriating piece of history that made me mad, sad and frustrated.
A movie based on this book came out a year or so ago. I decided not to see it as I doubted it could really tell the full story. But perhaps it will enlighten those who don’t read the book.
I understand the movie is relatively gruesome and depressing as it focuses more on the murders themselves. I will pass on it!