2023-10-27
25 分钟This is in conversation from Apple News.
I'm Shemitah Basu.
Today, the true story of money, murder and betrayal behind the movie Killers of the flower Moon.
The 19th century was a grim period for the Native American tribe, the Osage Nation.
Between disease brought by European colonizers and forced displacement by the US government, roughly 90% of the Osage people were wiped out.
The survivors settled in Oklahoma.
Then, at the turn of the century, something incredible happened.
We struck oil.
Striking oil was as good as striking gold.
And the Osage wanted to be sure that this valuable resource wasn't taken away from them by white Americans.
So they claimed their rights.
We held our minerals in reserve for all of us.
And that was divided to the surviving 2,229 Osages in 1906.
That's Chief Jeffrey Standing Bear, the principal chief of the Osage Nation.
Today, he says the Osage decided each member of the tribe should get an equal share of the oil royalties.
That share was called a headright.
Here's David Graham, who wrote the 2017 book about this history called Killers of the Flower Moon.
These headrights were worth a fortune because it ensured you received a quarterly check.
And a headright could not be bought or sold.
A headright could only be inherited.