Killers of The Flower Moon and a Choctaw Storyteller

Just as J. Edgar Hoover was starting his controversial career with the FBI, several wealthy Osage Indians were found murdered under suspicious circumstances. Vast oil reserves had been found beneath their land, and outsiders quickly tried to take advantage of the Osage’s newfound prosperity. Their most common scheme involved marriage and murder.

 

Welcome to another episode of The Unlovely Truth. I’m your host, private investigator Lori Morrison. Join me for another captivating true crime story, where physical, spiritual, and emotional safety takeaways are waiting for us. If you are listening, I believe you have a unique calling—to become a different kind of PI, not a typical private investigator, but a person of impact!

 

This is Season 4, Episode #. Our book this week is “Killers of the Flower Moon” by David Grann and our guest is Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer. Sarah is an author, speaker, member of the Choctaw Nation and is a Choctaw storyteller. She writes historical fiction that features truly authentic American Indian characters. And for my writer friends, she also offers a digital course all about creating those authentic characters in your writing. 

 

So if you’re a Leonardo DiCaprio or Martin Scorsese fan, you are probably as excited for the movie based on this book to come out as I am! I love history and true crime, so this one really hit it out of the park for me. At one time, members of the Osage nation were among the wealthiest groups of people per capita on the planet Because of the Oklahoma oil boom, life was good. Until the murders started. Believing the Osage would not be able to manage their new wealth, lobbied by whites who wanted a piece of the action, Congress passed a law in 1921 which required that courts appoint guardians for each Osage of half-blood or more in ancestry, who would manage their royalties and financial affairs That was a recipe for abuse.

 

If this story made you mad, you’ll want to listen to this one .

 

Please visit my website to access more episodes, read my blog posts, or check out ways you can financially support the podcast so that together we can impact more people, more families, and more communities. If you would like to contact me about booking me as a speaker, or ask about my consulting and investigative services, please email me at lori@theunlovelytruth.com. 

Get your copy of Killers of the Flower Moon (this is an affiliate link so I may make a small commission to support the work of THe Unlovely Truth)

 

Connect with Sarah and check out more great resources here. 

 

Be sure to visit https://www.choctawspirit.com/

 

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