Other prominent conditions in the film are diabetes and a “wasting disease,” implied to be in many cases undiagnosed diabetes, that takes the lives of many Osage people before they reach the age of 50. Mollie Burkhart, played by Lily Gladstone, is one of several Osage people who suffer with the disease.
The condition plays a pivotal part in the story: In the film, Osage people are said to commonly die before the age of 50, often from a “wasting disease” vaguely associated with diabetes, which itself is attributed to the consumption of “the white man's food.” Mollie's condition means that her husband, Ernest (Leonardo ...
Then Mollie, a diabetic, began to become ill herself. As depicted in the film, she was slowly being poisoned through her insulin shots, Grann reported. Once she was taken to a local hospital and taken out of the care of her doctors, she recovered.
Some of the murders were committed in order for whites to take over the headrights of Osage members when inheriting property after deaths. The Osage found minimal assistance from local law enforcement to investigate the deaths, as it was dominated by powerful whites working in their own interests.
What disease did Minnie have in Killers of the Flower Moon?
The “wasting illness” in 'Killers of the Flower Moon' is likely a type of poisoning. While there are several mentions of diabetes in Killers of the Flower Moon, the “wasting illness” is what ends up taking the lives of Minnie, Lizzie Q, Rita, and nearly Mollie.
Type 2 diabetes among American Indians is the result of decreasing traditional foods of wild game, garden produce, and seasonal fruits, vegetables, tubers, and herbs, in favor of overindulging in sugary, starchy, and fatty foods and adopting a sedentary way of life.
After his release from prison, Burkhart moved back to Osage County to live with his brother Byron. Later he moved to Cleveland, Oklahoma, living in a "mice-infested" trailer. Burkhart died at the age of 94 on December 1, 1986, in Cleveland, Oklahoma. His death came on what would have been Mollie Kyle's 100th birthday.
The story that Killers of the Flower Moon projects onto the big screen is one that's hard for many of us to confront, and the horrific nature of the events might even cause some viewers to chalk it up to creative Hollywood writers. But the great majority of the events of the film are, unfortunately, accurate.
William King Hale (December 24, 1874 – August 15, 1962) was an American political and crime boss in Osage County, Oklahoma, who was responsible for the Osage Indian murders, for which he was later convicted. He made a fortune through cattle ranching, contract killings, and insurance fraud.
Margie Burkhart, Mollie's granddaughter, told Grann that living on the Osage Reservation with Cobb was a period of happiness for her, and in 1937, Mollie died at the age of 50. As read by Scorsese during a cameo in the film, Mollie's short obituary stated: "Mrs.
Burkhart stayed in prison until he again applied for parole. To the surprise of many, the Oklahoma Parole Board granted Burkhart parole in 1966, with the group citing his hand in the Osage murder investigation as a reason for granting it to him.
Between 1901 and 1950, the tribe received nearly $300 million, which would be worth about $4 billion today [2]. Current Financial Situation: While the Osage Tribe is no longer among the richest people, the effects of the oil industry are still felt today.
Over 2,000 Osage individuals made it to the Osage Nation Reservation in 1872; today, our Nation's population is over 25,000 strong, with 4,467 individuals living in Osage County on the Osage Nation Reservation.
The Osage Nation now has seven remaining full bloods. The Nation's tribal membership is around 22,000. The last remaining full bloods were honored in August of 2018 at a ceremony held by the community in Pawhuska. They were presented with blankets and medals by Principal Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear.
He and other minerals council members believe there is still oil to be produced on the reservation, but it's a matter of finding new techniques to extract them. “But with time, technology sometimes doesn't move as fast as the time does. And so, like right now, there's a lot of oil still around.
Believing he was dead, the Osages performed their traditional burial rites and buried him on top of a hill in a seated position covered in rocks. The story goes on to say that being buried in such a manner brought Stink back to life.
In one scene, an Osage man references the high rates of sickness in his community, blaming it on "the white man's food." Killers of the Flower Moon implies that others suffer in silence with the disease—a trend that still rings true among Native Americans.
Estimates vary, but approximately twenty-four Osage Indians died violent or suspicious deaths during the early 1920s. The majority of these crimes occurred in or near Fairfax and were rarely investigated by local authorities; some were never solved.
The movie shows Ernest slowly poisoning Mollie, who was diabetic, by giving her injections of what she was told was insulin to keep her weak and wasting away in bed during the later years of the Reign of Terror, an alleged attempt on her life that Mollie survived.
The movie notes that Anna was pregnant when she died. However, the book mentions that when the FBI's lead agent on the investigation, Tom White (played by Jesse Plemons), got involved, he discovered that Hale and Anna were more than just acquaintances.
Mollie was Osage but spoke some English and eventually, Ernest learned some of her language, too. The two fell in love, and with Hale's encouragement, they married in 1917.
So while it's evident Ernest is well aware Mollie is being poisoned in the movie, the book never goes there. "Burkhart never admitted having any knowledge that Mollie was being poisoned," Grann wrote.
Ernest and Mollie Burkhart's son, James Burkhart, grew up and started a family after the end of Killers of the Flower Moon. According to an article by The Washington Post, James, who went by the nickname "Cowboy," married and had two daughters, Doris and Margie.
There are 2,229 Osage headrights, one for each member of the Osage Nation enrolled in 1906. Osage headrights entitle the owner to a quarterly share of the Osage Mineral Estate.
But the most insidious attempts came from white male settlers who married Osage women to assert their rights as a spouse, become their guardian, and gain control over their money.
