'Known the story all my life': Osage Nation citizens react to 'Killers of the Flower Moon'

Two days after seeing the movie "Killers of the Flower Moon" at a special invitation-only Oklahoma event, Danette Daniels was still working through the emotional impact of watching the historical drama play out on the big screen.

"There's all the hype and all the movie stars and then a big, giant reception. ... But it's so hard. I just left the theater feeling very heavy. It's a lot to process," said Daniels, who is Osage.

"I've known the story all my life. My full-blood grandmother taught me the story as a young child. ... I was born and raised in Fairfax, and I live in Fairfax. So, it's always been a part of my history, this story, and now for the whole world to see it exposed is a kind of retribution."

Apple Studios hosted on Saturday a private event in Tulsa for Osage Nation citizens who worked on the eagerly anticipated film, as well as for tribal elders and leaders. The studio reserved multiple auditoriums at Tulsa's AMC 20 so that invitees could view the movie ahead of its October theatrical debut. After the screenings, attendees were shuttled to the Skyline Event Center at the Osage Nation Casino in Tulsa for a special reception.

Attendees at the event included "Killers of the Flower Moon" director Martin Scorsese; cast members Leonardo DiCaprio, Lily Gladstone, Jesse Plemons, Tantoo Cardinal, Cara Jade Myers, Tatanka Means and Osage cousins Yancey Red Corn and Talee Redcorn; and author David Grann, whose best-selling book “Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI" provides the basis for the movie.

"It was an exciting time, but it's difficult for us to watch because it's so emotionally heavy and affects our people so greatly. I felt like Scorsese did a good job, overall, but instead of being billed as a Western, I call it more of horror-type film with a lot of drama," said Daniels, a businesswoman who owns the under-construction Fairfax Osage Reservation Museum, which was a filming location for the movie.

"But it's definitely very well done."

What is 'Killers of the Flower Moon' about?

With its starry cast and reported $200 million budget, Scorsese's fact-based film is one of the biggest movie productions ever undertaken in Oklahoma. But it's also chronicling one of the most horrific and often-overlooked chapters in the Sooner State's complicated history. 

"It was a lot to process — and I think that everyone feels the same way. We spent years in development on the film as a community, and so many people were involved in different ways. So, I think the impact is different for each person," said Russ Tallchief, an Oklahoma-based Osage dancer, performer and writer who danced the Charleston for four days as an extra on the film. 

"As a community, the impact has been profound, because this film tells a story of a very dark period in our history. ... So, I think there's just some inherent trauma that comes from being a part of this and also seeing the film."

With its screenplay co-written by Scorsese and Oscar winner Eric Roth ("Forrest Gump"), the film is adapted from Grann's 2017 best-seller. Like the National Book Award finalist, the film chronicles the slayings of Osage Nation citizens in 1920s Oklahoma, after an oil boom made them wealthy.

The killings became known as the "Reign of Terror" and led to an investigation by the then-fledgling FBI.  

"It's a really interesting, a really complex relationship, I think, that each of us as Osage people has with the film. There's, of course, the excitement that goes along with it. There's the content of the film that really stayed pretty factually true to what happened. So, just the story itself comes with a lot of weight," Tallchief said.

"It's telling a story that many Osage people, especially people who experienced that time, did not talk about. ... Now that we're talking about it, and in a very public way, I feel like that we have to face that trauma directly. It's right there on the screen. And I think we all have to find a way to deal with that."

The film focuses on Mollie Kyle Burkhart, a real-life Osage woman who lived on the tribal settlement of Gray Horse, near Fairfax. During the Reign of Terror, she and her family were marked for death in a vicious scheme to swindle away their oil money.  

Up-and-coming Native American actress Gladstone, who is Blackfeet and Nimíipuu (or Nez Perce), stars as Mollie and is already earning Oscar buzz for her performance. DiCaprio, an Academy Award-winning actor who is also producing through his Appian Way Productions, portrays her treacherous husband, Ernest Burkhart, who is caught between his love for his wife and the deadly plot masterminded by his uncle, William K. Hale (Oscar winner Robert De Niro, who did not attend Saturday's Tulsa event).

"I was so pleased, so excited about Lily Gladstone's performance. She just knocked it out of the ballpark. ... They did an excellent job, of course, Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio. But she's what stole the show for me, truly," Daniels told The Oklahoman.

"She had gotten so close to us community members from the Osage (Nation), and she's such a nice person, such a wonderful person. She wanted to do her very best, and she succeeded in that."

How has the Osage Nation been involved in making 'Killers of the Flower Moon?'

Two years after Scorsese filmed it in and around the Osage Nation, the iconic director's "Killers of the Flower Moon" is one of the most anticipated movies of 2023 and already widely regarded as an Academy Awards contender.

The three-hour and 26-minute epic received rapturous reviews and a lengthy standing ovation at its May 20 world premiere at France's Cannes Film Festival. At the prestigious fest, Scorsese said his adaptation of "Killers of the Flower Moon" was shaped by his interactions in Oklahoma with members of the Osage Nation, whom he sought out as collaborators early on in the multi-year process of bringing the sprawling story to the silver screen. 

Osage Nation Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear named Chad Renfro the tribe's ambassador to the production, and the filmmakers worked with many cultural consultants, local artisans and Osage Nation citizens in the making of the movie.  

"In 'Killers of the Flower Moon' ... the language you hear is taught by Osage Nation Language Teachers. The traditional Wahzhazhe clothing you see is made by Osage artists. The landscape is the Osage Nation Reservation," reads a statement from the Osage Nation about the movie provided Monday to The Oklahoman.

"We are not relics. The Osage Nation is a sovereign Nation that is thriving. A people of strength, hope, and passion, honoring the stories of the past and building the world of the future."

Although most moviegoers at Saturday's Tulsa event were seeing "Killers of the Flower Moon" for the first time, several Osage citizens, including Standing Bear, also attended the film's spring world premiere in Cannes.  

“Early on, I asked Mr. Scorsese, ‘How are you going to approach the story? He said, 'I’m going to tell a story about trust — trust between Mollie and Ernest, trust between the outside world and the Osage — and the betrayal of those trusts,'” Standing Bear said during a Cannes news conference.  

“My people suffered greatly and to this very day those effects are with us. But I can say on behalf of the Osage, Marty Scorsese and his team have restored trust, and we know that trust will not be betrayed.” 

How is 'Killers of the Flower Moon' creating opportunities for the Osage Nation?

For Daniels, it was particularly thrilling to see Osage Nation citizens like Talee Redcorn and Everett Waller, who both serve on the Osage Minerals Council, acting in "Killers of the Flower Moon."

Although there were parts of Reign of Terror history left out that she would like to have seen included in the movie, she said "Killers of the Flower Moon" is an important film that people should watch since it tells such a vital and overlooked story from Oklahoma and American history.

"The film is very well made, and I think Martin did his very best to do right by us," said Daniels, who said she appears in the movie as an extra in a dance sequence.

"Of course, there's going to be things in there that we're not going to like 100%, because we're not telling our own story. We have a famous non-Osage director telling it, but he did consult with our people and we had consultants on the sets."

Tallchief said he is excited about the way the "Killers of the Flower Moon" helped several Osage citizens gain valuable experience working in front of, as well as behind, the camera.

"The fact that Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro and Brendan Fraser and John Lithgow and all of these really famous Hollywood stars were joined by Native talent — seasoned Native talent and some new Native talent — brought a whole new sense of celebration to the film. We're getting to see careers began through this film for our Native people in all different areas of filmmaking," said Tallchief, who said he did spot himself in the movie.

Osage County is already a thriving destination: Food Network star Ree Drummond has been lensing her show "The Pioneer Woman" on her family's Pawhuska ranch since 2011, spinning off a series of businesses that brings droves of tourists to town. "Killers of the Flower Moon" is expected to bring even more visitors to the area to learn about Osage history.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Osage Nation react after special 'Killers of the Flower Moon' event