AIS Associate Professor, Jean Dennison, an Osage Nation citizen, wrote an article for Time Magazine: What Killers of the Flower Moon Doesn't Show About Osage Nation's Legacy.
This beautiful piece firmly conveys not just a surviving, but a thriving Osage Nation. As many head to theaters to see the Martin Scorsese's new film adaptation of the book, Professor Dennison's article provides critical context beyond Hollywood's gaze. In her opening paragraphs, she writes,
"Killers of the Flower Moon, the Martin Scorsese movie about my people, the Osage Nation of Oklahoma, brings to life the reign of terror we lived through a century ago, as if we were back there on those busy 1920s reservation streets, rubbing elbows with our own ancestors and their murderers. It is a powerful film, vividly and heartbreakingly accurate.
Scorsese has rightly been praised for pushing his storytelling past the white-guy-saving-the-day narrative with his important adaptation of the book to film. But the events of the film are only one part of a much richer story. What the film does not fully demonstrate is Osage persistence beyond this traumatic era. If the film is your only source of knowledge, then you would most likely assume that Osages did not survive this assault. The Osage Nation, however, has not just survived—it is thriving."
Read the full article here: https://time.com/6325555/killers-of-the-flower-moon-osage-legacy-essay/