Osage News Talks About The Making Of "Killers Of The Flower Moon"

Killers of the Flower Moon is set to hit theaters next week. The movie is based on Osage Murders and the real-life events of the Reign of Terror. 

The Osage News covered the film's production every step of the way, giving the Osage people an up-close look at the making of the movie. 

As Hollywood rolled into Pawhuska, people from all over caught glimpses of the stars and peeked at the movie set.  

"We thought, why not, let's go take a chance, see what we can see. Let's see how movies are made,” Nancy Allard, from Green Bay, Wis., said.  

"Doesn't happen this close to home very often,” Donna Thompson from Winfield, Kan., said.  

As the streets transformed, some locals acted as extras in the movie.  

"I'd never been on a film set, so watching this massive production, a massive Scorsese production, it was really great,” Osage News editor Shannon Shaw Duty said.  

Duty is an extra in the film, along with three of her kids and husband, and said being a part of this story was important.  

"I don't know if anybody else will see me, but I recognize myself; you know extras are in the background. We're just happy to be there,” she said.  

When she was not on set, she was working her full-time job as an editor at the Osage News, covering everything she could about the movie.  

"Everything that we produce here is history, so 100 years from now, they can still look back and read and look at the photos, watch the video, of everything that took place here and how this film crew came in and worked with the Osage people,” Duty said.  

The Osage News’ coverage of the movie began in February 2018, when Imperative Entertainment bought the rights to the film. 

"They were just so taken aback by our acceptance, our kindness, the hospitality that we showed, and I documented that in this article,” she said.  

In July 2019, Martin Scorsese signed on to be the director.  

"This photo has gone everywhere. When Scorsese was talking, they spoke for over an hour,” Duty remembered.  

Duty was invited to sit in on the first meeting with Scorsese and Osage Nation Principal Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear. That’s when she knew this was going to be something special.  

"In the beginning, our Chief understood that the Osage people needed to know what was happening here,” she said. “He understood how important the story would be to the Osage people." 

The opinions of the movie varied from excitement and hope to fear and anger.  

"I think those fears were valid in the beginning, that this wasn't going to be a film about the Osages, so to speak. We were going to be in the background again,” Duty said.  

When Scorsese started, the film’s focus was on the FBI and the white male protagonist. But after spending time with the Osage people, he switched the focus and rewrote the film.  

"A lot of the film crew has said this is the first time they've started a film production with prayer,” Duty said.  

Osage ambassadors and people from the nation’s language and cultural departments were all on set. 

"They would have headsets on, they were listening, and every once in a while, they might say, we wouldn't say it like that, we would say this, or she wouldn't address him like that, or she wouldn't look this way, you know,” Duty said.  

The movie’s first premiere was at the famous Cannes Film Festival in France. Duty was there, reviewing the movie and interviewing the stars.  

"In this issue, I'm interviewing Leonardo DiCaprio, Lily Gladstone, and Robert DeNiro,” she said.  

But it wasn’t the big names that stood out to her.  

"My favorite scenes were of the Osage life. I think those were the most compelling, beautiful scenes of seeing Osage life and seeing them speak in Osage to one another. That was very special to see,” she said.  

While there are moments she loved, she said it is hard to watch because this is also her own family’s history. One of the scenes mirrors the way her great-great-grandfather was murdered.  

"I watched that, and I thought this is going to be a hard movie for a lot of people to watch because it showed all of the different ways that they were killed,” Duty said.  

As a journalist, she knows those scenes need to be in the movie, so she hopes the film is a wild success and that it inspires people to learn about the Osage people and their beautiful culture. But above all, she just wants the story out there for the world to see.  

"I want a reckoning. I want people to know what happened here. I want accountability,” she said. “I'm not afraid to say that." 

Duty is proud of her work these last five years and often thinks about what's next.  

"In my opinion, this is the way movie making should be done. If you are from outside an Indigenous community within the United States, it's very important to make these end roads with their cultural experts and tribal experts and really make a good faith effort to understand their community,” she said.  

While her eyes are on the future, Duty can’t forget the past.  

"Who knows what would have happened if we would have gotten to enjoy our generational wealth? Who knows what we would be like to this day if it wasn't taken from us,” she said.