Martin Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon has received praise since its release for exploring a little-known part of American history.
Based on the book of the same name by author David Grann, the film looks at the fascinating and disturbing story of the Osage murders, a real-life drama that shook Oklahoma in the 1920s.
The film tells the tale of big oil deposits being discovered beneath the Oklahoma land that the indigenous American Osage people call home, meaning that they have, as is customary for anyone ever who finds themselves in close proximity to oil, become very rich very quickly.
We then meet a soldier called Ernest (Leonardo DiCaprio), returning from the First World War, who has come to town to connect with his wealthy uncle, William Hale (Robert De Niro). Hale quickly suggests that his nephew might want to seduce, then marry indigenous woman Mollie Buckhart (Lily Gladstone) so he can get his hands on the rights to her family’s oil.
But how close is the lengthy film's narrative to what actually happened? Here is everything we know:
Is Killers of the Flower Moon based on real story?
Yes it is, and the script has been adapted from American journalist David Grann’s 2017 book of the same name – with the subtitle The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI.
However, the film focuses on just the story of Hale's plot.
What were the Osage murders?
The Osage Indian murders concerned the slaughter of Osage Native Americans in Osage County, Oklahoma, during the 1910s to 1930s, in rows over land.
Osage Indians died violent or suspicious deaths during the early 1920s as the row over the land rumbled on after it was found how much it was worth because of the oil and minerals beneath. The majority of these crimes occurred in or near Fairfax in the US and were rarely investigated by local authorities.
In 1923, the height of the Osage oil boom, the Osage tribe earned more than $30 million in revenue.
The killings subsided after the arrest of William K Hale in 1926, but it took a while before he was even investigated, in which time, many more native people lost their lives.
Hale was a prominent figure in the area and the self-proclaimed "King of the Osage Hills", and had banking and political interests.
He wanted a slice of the wealthy land and tried to encourage his nephew, Ernest Burkhart, to marry Mollie Kyle, an allotted full-blood Osage, who owned a lot of the land.
After the deaths , in March 1923, the Osage Tribal Council sought US government intervention in the growing number of Osage murders.
In response, the FBI sent undercover agents to Osage County to investigate.
After a lengthy investigation, and under interrogation, Burkhart admitted his role in one of the murders and implicated his uncle, Hale. They were both eventually given life sentences for their parts in the killings.
They were later paroled after serving some of their sentences.
What is the population of the Osage Nation today?
The Osage Nation Foundation is a non-profit organisation that exists to promote the continued development of the Osage Reservation and the communities influenced by the Osage Nation. They estimate there are around 21,000 existing members of the Osage Nation today.
