One of the things I love most, particularly with the passage of time, is the "discovery" of little known (and rather mind blowing- least to me) episodes of history that I had no idea ever existed! Pieces of history with little to no precedent, whose very existence are in contradiction to everything before or after- and that seemingly fly in the face of history itself.
The Osage Indian Murders is just such an instance where history has not only been forgotten- but very purposely expunged. Of course, the blatant racism (and violence) against Native Americans certainly comes as no surprise, it's the aberration of wealth and power that these people attained against all odds, if only for so brief a time- before they were so violently and surreptitiously stripped of any and all vestige of that material prestige... by the dominant society that just wouldn't allow Indians of means living amongst Whites who had less. That was simply not how "reality" was supposed to transpire- and they quickly set about correcting it through every means imaginable!
And, of course, history always has a way of repeating, resonating and... being forgotten.
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| The full panorama. Courtesy Archie Mason |
The Osage Indian Murders is just such an instance where history has not only been forgotten- but very purposely expunged. Of course, the blatant racism (and violence) against Native Americans certainly comes as no surprise, it's the aberration of wealth and power that these people attained against all odds, if only for so brief a time- before they were so violently and surreptitiously stripped of any and all vestige of that material prestige... by the dominant society that just wouldn't allow Indians of means living amongst Whites who had less. That was simply not how "reality" was supposed to transpire- and they quickly set about correcting it through every means imaginable!
And, of course, history always has a way of repeating, resonating and... being forgotten.
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