A tinderbox waiting to be ignited, the world over!

Killers of the Flower Moon (2023)

Director: Martin Scorsese

Based on David Grann's book (2017)
Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI

The narration is always the same. Again and again, history has repeatedly shown the same narration. The local population would live in harmony, in sync with their environment. The rambunctious mavericks from outside, with both eyes fixed on the wealth, would trickle in, peddle their snake oil elixirs and promise the moons and the stars. They would bulldoze their thinking into the local populace. The host would be cordial enough to accommodate the newcomers' wisdom, too. Once the shields are lowered, when the host treats the visitors as equals and gives them due recognition, they would zap. 

The bottom line is all about wealth, money and control. 

The Native Indians were nicely tugged into the New World, as 'discovered' by Europeans. The areas around Missouri and Kansas were occupied by a group that later became known as the Osage (Middle River) people. As the 13 original states of the USA expanded westwards, winning over the West, the Osage people were relocated to present-day Oklahoma. Even though their new land was hilly and barren, devoid of hunting grounds, they took it as they told themselves that at least they got the White men off their backs. 

Life works in mysterious tangents. Behind every prosperous find, there lies a catch. The discovery of black gold, aka petroleum, aka devil's excrement* is no different. 

Petroleum wells started welling up in their backyards, and their family coffers started bulging. The Osage proudly displayed their newfound wealth, buying the latest edition of the early 1920s post-WW1 prosperity automobiles, shopping the latest designs of luxurious Parisian outfits and basically living the life. Many were living the white men's lives, embracing the high life and the white men's religion. The Osage Elders realised the tide change would not last forever and decided that the deed of the Osage land would be collectively held as communal head rights. Leasing of land for oil earned them much royalty. It could not be sold to outsiders. 

Meanwhile, the US government decreed (Burke Act, 1906) that the Osage were not smart enough to manage their money. An act was passed to make them appoint a white guardian to manage their finances. This led to much exploitation. It became a legitimate means to cheat the Osage blind. The Osage had to obtain approval for their expenditure and were often over-billed through the roof by their guardians. Soon, there was a trend for white men to marry wealthy Osage women to manage their affairs. Pretty soon, a spade of deaths emerged amongst the Osage Indians in Oklahoma.

David Grann did his own research to write about the 20 Osage people murdered probably because of their ties to oil. The newly formed precursor to the FBI, the Bureau of Investigation (BOI), was assigned to investigate. The local rancher, politician and philanthropist was charged with murder. This book shows the ugly side of the self-proclaimed defender of the Truth, one who introduced culture to the Natives and a Christian to stoop so low as to wilfully bully, cheat and kill the people who invited them to their homes. The local white leader, who was seen as a do-gooder and a philanthropist with his nephew, had masterminded the killing of many Osage people. The nephew had even married an Osage lady but had conspired in her death and, probably, her sisters and mother, too. 

This episode is just an example of the numerous atrocities that white Americans have inflicted upon their brethren. In 1897, 300-400 unarmed immigrant miners at the Lattimer Mines, who marched peacefully for better wages and better living conditions, were gunned down by the Deputies. The Deputies would not acted like that if the miners were English-speaking Anglo-Saxons. 

Around the time of the Osage murders, in another part of Oklahoma, which was dubbed as one of the wealthiest black communities in the USA, colloquially known as 'Black Wall Street', the worst racial massacre in US history took place. A 19-year-old black man was accused of assaulting a 17-year-old white woman. Rumours spread that whites were going to lynch the accused. The blacks gathered around the jail to protect the accused. In that tense situation, a gunshot went off, and mayhem ensued.

There had been many Native American-related movies from Hollywood before. 'The Last Mohican' and 'Dances of Wolves' are some shining examples. Unlike the earlier films that stand guilty of having been 'whitewashed' to suit the narrative of the day, this movie tells the story from the Osage's point of view. The 3.5-hour-long film is worth the indulgence. 

*Juan Pablo Pérez Alfonso, a Venezuelan diplomat and one of the two founders of OPEC was the first to use this phrase in 1975: "I call petroleum the devil's excrement. It brings trouble. Look at this locura (madness in Spanish), waste, corruption, consumption, and our public services falling apart. And debt, debt we shall have for years. We are all drowning in devil's excrement!"

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Life in the fringe!

Wind River (2017)

Director: Taylor Sheridan

We are all seekers. We want to understand things. Our brains have been wired to try to understand things around us. As children, we feel insecure with unfamiliar faces and environments. We wonder about the darkness that we see outside. We try to find out when exactly the light goes off when we shut a fridge door. We eavesdrop to find out where babies come from. We want to know what actually happens when we die. Looking at the stars, we wonder if they are any intelligent life forms there. Did Santa Claus put those presents under the Christmas tree? Did God help himself to Prasadham that we offer?

As we grow older, everything will fall into its place. We learn biology, geography, theology, astronomy, and so on. 

Biology gives glorious explanations to all the burning questions we want to know but are too shy to ask. Geography demarcated the lines drawn between humans. Theology told us to limit our inquiries to things that our simple minds can comprehend. Astronomy reinforced the notion that we do not matter. Yet we think we know everything and try to put a closure to everything. 

Rituals are mocked as their meanings are lost!

Was there police brutality when Kugan and many Malaysian Indian petty thieves died in custody? Was the fireman,  Muhammad Adib, assaulted or was his accident a misadventure? Was MH370 remotely controlled and disposed of by China without a trace? Is Jho Low really off everyone's radar? Is Mohd Ridzuan, Indraganthi's husband, who converted his underaged daughter, really untraceable?

We like to think that some questions have no answers. That is what the victors believe when they write history. Some things can never be verified. The system is controlled by people of interest who will want to carry items in specific ways.

Nothing has changed much from the time of slavery. In the heydays of sugar plantations in the Caribbean, it is unbelievable that it was thought it was economically viable to work slaves to death and replace them every seven years than to care for them with their medical and sanitary needs. They were mere commodities in the marketplace. The world has no qualms about subjugating God's creations to such humiliation, just based on their skin colour, appearances, culture and poverty of military might. Nothing has much, all through the Industrial Age, space age and now in the 21st century. 

We are familiar with 'Black Life Matters'. The often-forgotten part of society is the Native American community. Before Columbus and the band of looters arrived in the New World, thinking they had found an alternative route to India, the Native Americans had a rich culture and complex civilisation. Now, they remain lost, forgetting their ancient and symbiotic living with Nature. 

They remain in a sad state. Their social indices all remain depressing. Many unexplained deaths in custody, deaths with unexplainable etiologies and the plethora of cold cases remain frustratingly common in the community. 

This story revolves around the rape and death of a young Native American woman. For the layperson, it appears like a cut-and-dry case. Unfortunately, the bureaucracy does not make it so simple. The police investigation drags its feet. The autopsy cannot make it simple for the prosecution to persecute. Most end up as cold cases. 

It looks like the long arm of the law and the machinery that works for it has no interest in dispensing justice. It is more interested in pleasing its masters and playing fetch for them. 

That may be why fringe societies have no confidence in authority and instead take care of their own affairs by compulsion. The law only carries clout as long as people think their interests are protected. 

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Can't live on goodwill and sunshine!

The execution of 38 Sioux Indians by the U.S. Authorities at Mankato, Minnesota. December 26th, 1862.

Heard about another forgotten wars of the bygone era. The state of Minnesota saw, in 1862, amidst the American Civil War, one of the biggest brutalities against the Native Americans. Mass hanging of 38 troublemaker Indians took place under the ambit of the law signed by decree of the President of the USA then, Abraham Lincoln. The story of Dakota Indians is the same story of any marginalised and economically deprived group anywhere in the world.

The tribe of Dakota Indians occupied a large portion of land in the Midwest region of North America. The vast land base was necessary for their way of life; being hunters and wanderers. The whites from the East were expanding to the West. The sure way to get them to gain possession of the land, they thought, was to get the Indians to surrender was the legal way. Through lopsided deals, the white traders sold many unnecessary things to them. After getting all in debt, unable to service the loan, the white traders demanded, as per their signed agreements, their fertile land.
The Dakota Indians realised that they had been taken for a ride and retaliated. The powers that be, the ruling officials, painted a contrasting view of what was actually happening on the ground level. One thing led to another, and before they knew it, the US-Dakota War of 1862 came about.

Through the white-man appointment kangaroo courts, the Dakota chiefs and innocent commoners were hanged. The Dakota Indians who fought against the US government were effectively placed in concentration camps called reservations. So, in the end, they were displaced, and their residence overran and taken over.

Is it just me or does the whole imbroglio not smell a bit like what is happening or had happened in Malaysia? Land used to be for everybody's use. God provided, we as human toiled and reap its benefit. In the 20th century with the New World Order and new global economic structure, things changed. Every plot of land in every country was nationalised and carved out to belong to somebody. The wise ones who were in the know of the law of the day seized their chances. New lands in Malaya were opened and sold for a song. The ignorant fools stayed aloof. They smelled rat everywhere and prayed for God to shower His miracle. They thought they could live on a prayer.

Fast forward sixty years later, and they find that the ignorant find themselves pushed to the fringes. They suddenly find out that the lands that they were occupying never belonged to them. Its new owners have all the documents to prove their ownership, but the occupiers had none. The owners had the long arm of the law to behind them whilst the occupiers had nothing, but goodwill and oral deals which were probably made in the spirit of the moment under the intoxicating effects of social lubricants. They probably realised it a little too late. Verbal promises and hearsays do not hold. The leaders must have the foresight to protect the community from being run over. Still, water must run deep.

https://asok22.wixsite.com/real-lesson 

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