Shedding light upon America's forgotten genocide: Lily Gladstone and the Osage Murders in latest Martin Scorsese film

The systematic murder of the wealthy Osage tribe members in 1920s Oklahoma represents an appalling and overlooked case of genocide against Native peoples demanding historical reckoning.

Lily Gladstone (Siksikaitsitapii/Nimíipuu) (right image) is a member of the Blackfeet and Nimíipuu Nations, and grew up on the Blackfeet Nation reservation in Montana. If nominated, Gladstone would be the first Native American actress to be nominated for a Best Actress Oscar, and the fourth Native American nominee overall. In the new epic directed by Martin Scorsese, Gladstone portrays Mollie Burkhart (left image), an Indigenous woman at the center of mysterious murders of the Osage Nation in 1920s Oklahoma, based on a true story.

In the 1920s, the Osage Nation in Oklahoma suffered a horrific series of murders now known as the "Reign of Terror," in which dozens of wealthy Osage tribal members were killed by a sinister conspiracy to steal their oil fortunes. This shameful chapter of America's mistreatment of Native peoples was largely forgotten until David Grann's riveting 2017 bo…