TAHLEQUAH – It’s been one year since the film “Killers of the Flower Moon” was released to Indian Country and the world, highlighting the historic trauma of the Osage Nation when its citizens were murdered for their oil rights and wealth in 1920s Oklahoma.
The film was adapted from a book written by David Grann and highlights Mollie and Ernest Burkhart after Mollie and her family received money for their oil headrights and one by one each sister began mysteriously dying.
Burkhart descendants reflected on the year since the movie was released. Tracy Lowe, Mollie’s great-grandson, said the movie helped spread awareness about an important time in Osage history.
“Honestly, it has been great. I am glad that so many people have supported my family with an understanding that it isn’t all about the recognition on a personal level, but more about spreading awareness of the past and how Mollie and our family fought to bring justice to a place of greed. There were so many families affected by these atrocious acts. The movie happens to surround my great grandmother and great grandpa, so it was bittersweet to watch history play out on the big screen.”
Lowe added that he heard from several people who didn’t know about “these murders deep in Osage country” but now have a better understanding of what took place.
The movie’s accuracy is said to be close to the book and the happenings of that time.
“I do know my mom says that the movie was very close to the book, and I know David Grann spent several years doing his research for this book,” he said.
Lowe said his mother Margie told him stories about the Osage murders and of his great-grandparents, and how she grew up in Gray Horse and enjoying times of prosperity.
“My mother and her siblings were always told about what happened with Mollie and Ernest from a very young age,” Lowe said. (She) told us many times that it was rather eerie living in Gray Horse when she was growing up. There were a lot of murders that had happened in Gray Horse and Hominy and Pawhuska.”
Margie Burkhart, Lowe’s mother, recalls life being a “little chaotic” growing up. She said while she enjoyed the prosperity, her parents had money management problems.
“It was like either feast or famine at our house, and I don’t mean to be insulting to either of them. My dad had the most excellent taste in clothes, and he would buy mother the nicest things. I loved to play with her jewelry and clothes and shoes,” Burkhart said. “Mother would go on these shopping trips with Aunt Liz, and they would come home with packages of clothing. Other times mother would send me to the neighbors to borrow a loaf of bread.”
Killers of the Flower Moon hit theaters nationwide on Oct. 20, 2023. The film topped the worldwide box office in its opening weekend bringing in $44 million. The book was adapted for film and directed by Martin Scorsese. The film was a hit among Indian Country, with several local actors, including Cherokee actors, being able to take part in the film. Members of the Osage Nation were first-hand consultants of their own history.
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