53 pages • 1 hour read
David GrannKillers of the Flower Moon (Adapted for Young Readers): The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI
Nonfiction | Book | Middle Grade | Published in 2021A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
The Culture and Resilience of the Osage Nation
Throughout the book, Grann uses historical evidence, both first and secondhand accounts, figurative language, and metaphors to highlight The Culture and Resilience of the Osage Nation. Although Grann focuses on a specific atrocity committed against the Osage Nation in the early 20th century, he also provides important historical background to emphasize the pattern of resilience in the Osage Nation in the face of prejudice and hardship. The Osage Tribe originally hails from Kansas, but as white settlers push farther west, they begin to harass and murder the Osage people because they want their land. The Osage Nation aren’t the only ones targeted by civilians; the US government orders civilians to kill all of the buffalo, a major food and materials source for the Osage, to try to force integration of Indigenous people. The Osage move farther west themselves and buy land in Oklahoma. In the face of civilian and governmental targeting, the Osage people fight to maintain their tribal identity.
Grann also explores The Culture and Resilience of the Osage Nation through individual tribe members such as Mollie Burkhart. Mollie is the reader’s entry point into the story and the world and customs of the Osage Nation. Grann calls Mollie a “traveler in the mist,” which references a group in the Osage Nation known as the Travelers in the Mist who guided the tribe in times of drastic change. Mollie straddles the Osage and white worlds and attempts to guide her family and tribe into this new future. Mollie goes to a white school, speaks English, and marries a white man, but she also chooses to honor her Osage culture and maintain her identity. She keeps her hair long, and she wears the traditional Osage garb. She is Catholic, but she also incorporates the Osage religion into her major life events. She uses both Western and Osage medicine. She represents the Osage culture and resilience in the face of forced integration into the white American world.
Mollie and her descendants are symbols of The Culture and Resilience of the Osage Nation. Mollie’s entire family is killed because of their oil money, but Mollie survives and raises her two surviving children. Their survival demonstrates resilience and helps preserve Osage culture. Mollie’s children carry on her stories and legacy to the present day. Although many of the boomtowns of the 1920s are abandoned, the Osage Tribe remains strong. Grann, in his research into the murders, watches an Osage ballet that highlights the history of the Osage people. It celebrates the culture of the Osage people, highlighting traditional dancing and garb, but it does not hide the tragic past or the discrimination the Osage faced. Instead, it shows the hardships and how the Osage people navigated them.
At the height of the murders in the 1920s, Grann writes that “electric light bulbs [began] to appear on the outside of Osage houses, dangling from rooftops and windowsills and over back doors, their collective glow conquering the dark” (91). This metaphor captures the idea that when the tribe is threatened, they unite and pool their resources to collectively light the way. The culture of the Osage people is based on community and resilience.
The Impact of Power and Status on Recording History
Grann explores the nuances around capturing accurate historical events and investigates the impact that power and status have on who records history. Grann centers a different character in each part of the book, and each has a different impact on the recording of history. Mollie lives the history, Tom White investigates the history, and Grann attempts to tell the history.
After the conclusion of the investigation, Hoover begins to erase White and his team from the narrative. While he praises their group in private, Hoover never publicly mentions them. Hoover does not want the American public to associate criminal justice success with the lawmen of the past. Hoover pushes a narrative that modern investigative procedures are necessary for the development of the nation and the prevention of crime. He wants his changes to account for the bureau's success, and he pushes the bureau toward science and college-educated, clean-cut agents. Because of his power and status as the head of the bureau, Hoover can easily remove White from the narrative. Although Hoover fails to acknowledge White and his team, the Osage Tribal Council publicly thanks him and his team. The Osage’s lack of power and status means that this statement does not detract from Hoover’s narrative. Hoover is featured in movies about the killings and continues to spread his narrative unencumbered by the truth of history.
As White nears the end of his life, he tries to write a book about the investigation. Writing is not his forte, so he teams up with an author. They work tirelessly gathering evidence for the book, but when White asks Hoover for old files from the case, Hoover never sends them. Hoover’s power and status give him access to materials that White created. Hoover exerts his power and maintains control over the narrative years after the case was closed. After White’s death, the author he works with cannot find a publisher interested in a nonfiction version of the events, so he published a fictional version. Even White’s firsthand account does not lend him the power and status to break into the mainstream media with his story.
Grann, however, has the power and status to write a nonfiction book of this kind. As a journalist with success in publishing books of this nature, Grann has access to the tools White did not. Although Grann can write and publish this story, the corruption of the case and the passing of time erase much of history. Grann may have the power and status to correct or even rewrite history to reflect the truth, but he doesn’t have the same access to information as those who lived it.
The Impact of Greed and Prejudice on Justice
Killers of the Flower Moon is an investigation of the development of the US justice system and explores The Impact of Greed and Prejudice on Justice. Grann opens the book with a powerful quote describing the Osage land in Oklahoma covered with flowers:
[W]hen coyotes howl beneath an unnervingly large moon, taller plants, such as spiderworts and black-eyed Susans, begin to creep over the tinier blooms, stealing their light and water. The necks of the smaller flowers break and their petals flutter away, and before long they are buried underground (11).
This metaphor equates the Osage people to the flowers covering the land, and the taller plants represent the greedy outsiders who steal their money and lives.
Before any Osage people are murdered during the Reign of Terror, the greed of white settlers leads them to harass and murder Osages on their land in Kansas. The prejudice of the US government and law officials means that no white people are punished for these crimes. Additionally, the US government encouraged and sanctioned the killing of all the buffalo to cripple the livelihood and economy of the Osages. Without buffalo, the Osage Nation relies on the US government for food. This perpetuates prejudicial ideas about Indigenous people, especially that they are less capable or competent compared to white people.
This greed and prejudice follow the Osage Nation to their new home in Oklahoma. Once they discover oil on the land, people flock to it, hoping to squeeze some of the wealth for themselves. William Hale is one of those people. He arrives in Osage territory with nothing but quickly becomes one of the wealthiest and most influential men in the territory. His greed leads him to kill multiple Osage people for money. He also plays on others’ greed and uses bribery and coercion to maintain his position of power, which enables him to commit brutal crimes. His wealth and influence lead him to believe the justice system will not punish him. Even White questions whether Hale would ever face punishment for his crimes. Although Hale does go to jail for a life sentence, he is not hanged, and he is released on parole long before his life is over.
Even the head of the bureau, the supposed face of justice in the US, is driven by greed and prejudice. Hoover desires power and schemes to secure and maintain his influence. Greed is the antithesis of the Osage Tribe’s culture of generosity and community. The prejudice and greed of the time cause immense pain and suffering to the Osage Tribe. Because so much history has already been lost to time, justice will never be served for every crime committed against them.
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