Killers of the Flower Moon

Killers of the Flower Moon tells another part of Native American history that I had never heard about: the time in the late 19th and early 20th century when Osage people turned out to own the rights to the oil found in what the US government had thought were the barren hills of Oklahoma, and became millionaires, and then became targets for murder by vicious whites who wanted their money. This is a well written page turner for a mystery lover, but it's horrifying and absolutely heartbreaking because it's true. The trauma that a generation of people endured when their relatives and loved ones were murdered is still present in the conversations that their grandchildren have with the author. Read this book, but brace yourself for deep sadness. There are notes for each chapter at the end of the book, a list of unpublished sources, and a bibliography.

Update: I want to also mention that this book has a perspective on the development of the FBI as a federal law enforcement agency that is fascinating. According to the author, FBI director J. Edgar Hoover's focus on making the FBI (and by association, himself) look like heroes led to a job only half done, and many Osage families were left with grief and unanswered questions about what happened to their relatives.