THE story of an overlooked Native American tribe that once held $320million worth of land before a tragic collapse has been featured in a hit blockbuster.

Martin Scorcese’s Killers of the Flower Moon follows the white men who attempted to marry into the Osage tribe in the 1920s to get a piece of the fabulous wealth.

Martin Scorcese’s newest film Killers of the Flower Moon is based on the real-life tragedy of the Osage tribeCredit: Apple TV+

Mollie Kyle, a powerful Osage woman, and many others were targeted after they leased out their oil-rich land for millions of dollars in the 1920sCredit: Getty
Scorcese amassed a whopping budget of $170million to create the blockbuster starring Lily Gladstone, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Robert De Niro.

It premiered in theaters on Friday and is set to quickly be up for streaming on Apple Plus.

While cinephiles everywhere are grabbing their popcorn to enjoy the 3-hour and 26-minute epic, many people do not realize it was inspired by a true tale.

It centers around the Osage Nation which can be traced all the way back to 700 BC when they lived in the Great Plains near modern-day Ohio.

But in the 19th century, they were forced by the American government to leave their land for a territory in Oklahoma.

Though the move was inhumane with many dying on the Trail of Tears, it actually brought the tribe an exorbitant amount of wealth.

In the early 20th century, the tribe discovered that they were living on a massive oil well, and starting making a killing by leasing out their land.

By the 1920s, the 2,000-person tribe was worth what would now be $320million.

They enjoyed the luxuries of white servants, private schooling, and even dance classes for the children living on the reserve.

But the good fortune also brought treachery, deception, and death as people across the country came to try and steal some of the wealth.

One famous member living in the community with the richest people per capita in the world was Molly Burkhart, portrayed in the movie by Lily Gladstone, who had a mansion, chauffeur-driven car, and the rights to an oil field.

She seemingly had it all until Ernest Burkhard, portrayed by DiCaprio, came along and stole her heart – before trying to steal her money.

Mollie would see her sister shot in the back of the head and another blown up as she slept after someone placed a five-gallon keg of explosive nitroglycerin under her home.

All the while she was being slowly poisoned by her white husband who wanted to have all of the fortune to himself.

Burkhard would go on to lead what is now known as the “Reign of Terror” which involved a rise of murders and suspicious deaths of the Osage.

He was working under the thumb of his businessman uncle William “King of Osage Hills” Hale, who is portrayed by Robert De Niro.

It took years for the federal authorities to finally get involved and start investigating the murders.

By the time they arrived in 1925, Mollie’s family had been eviscerated by the schemes, but she was able to survive.

An estimated 60 members of the Osage were killed from 1921 to 1925, and many of the crimes went unsolved.

But the nation would have one more stroke of luck after the oil wells ran dry.

In 2011, the federal government paid out a massive settlement after allegedly mismanaging their oil funds.

The payout went to an acknowledged 20,000 members.

Today, the tribe lives in Oklahoma, and around 6,780 people live in its jurisdictional area.