Book Review: Killers of the Flower Moon

The teaser of Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” captivated me in an instant. From the comments, I discovered that it is based on the book of the same name by David Grann. This is a review of the book.

The discovery of oil in Oklahoma in the early twentieth century made Osage the richest tribe on the planet. A few decades ago, the tribe had been chased from Kansas to bare land in Oklahoma and had been forced to adopt the ways of the white people. An officer is known to have said, “[American] Indian must conform to the white man’s ways, peacefully if they will, forcibly if they must.” 

Since Osage were hunters and gatherers, they were inept in farming. Also, because of the unproductive land, and the elimination of bison (their major source of food) by the whites, they were dying of famine. When the first oil well was tapped, they were elated. Having seen and experienced the exodus of other American Indian tribes, the Osage had made a deal with the federal government that they be granted headright over any mineral resources discovered in their new land. This gave them the riches. However, the U.S. government did not allow American Indian tribes to use the money on their own. They needed a white guardian. That’s why the Osage elders also believed that wealth was a curse.

In May 1921, the fears of the Osage materialized with the death of Anna Brown. Until 1925, there were 24 Osage murders, all of which had different modus operandi. The investigation of these murders got challenging because of corrupt local sheriffs, attorneys, and others in power. The Osage sought help from the federal government. However, even the federal government did not have an official investigation organization. The agents of the Bureau of Investigation, as it was called then, did not have the right to arrest anyone. In such a situation, Hoover, the BoI chief, sent Tom White for investigation. How Tom arranged a team and solved the mystery of the murders is the central narrative of David Grann’s 2016 non-fiction “Killers of the Flower Moon.”

The book chronicles the history of the Osage, from rags to riches and how their murders brought changes in the then Bureau of Investigation, and to eventual formation of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Despite being a real story, at times, the plot sometimes seem to have been picked from a movie. (Or do the movies take some elements from the Osage murders?) It’s scary how racist policies of the white Americans against American Indians along with greed brought hell to indigenous tribes.

Towards the end of the book, Grann mentions that there were some errors in the way the murder cases were solved. Although Tom White and the Bureau of Investigation identified one major schemer, they overlooked several other possible criminals. Some murders still remain unsolved and many others ignored for illnesses. This gives the Osage murders a new perspective and the picture of a bigger problem at that time–systematic oppression.

There was a significant error in the book. Grann writes: 

“The head of Standard Oil warned a former Harding campaign aide, “I understand the Interior Department is just about to close a contract to lease Teapot Dome, and all through the industry it smells….I do feel that you should tell the President that it smells.” 

Because I had finished reading Leonardo Maugeri’s “The Age of Oil” recently, I knew that Standard Oil was dismantled in 1911. However, the Teapot Dome scandal occurred during the presidency of Warren G. Harding from 1921 to 1923. That’s why it is not possible for Standard Oil’s head to warn anybody about the “oil’s smells.”

Another error (?) is in the title. In the first page of the book, Grann refers to the large moon in May as the promoter of larger prairie plants such as the spiderwort and black-eyed Susans. These plants dominate and kill small flowers like Johnny jump-ups and bluets. The title is also a reference to a poem written in 2009 by an Osage poet, Elise Paschen. The poem also refers to the killer-of-the-flowers moon. That’s why the title feels somewhat wrong.

Other than these, I found the book informative and thought-provoking.