Before Scorsese’s film, before Grann’s book, there was a poem... Osage poet Elise Paschen reads “Wi’-gi-e”, the poem which inspired the title of the book and film, Killers of the Flower Moon.

We filmed her special reading of the poem, which she dedicates to Lily Gladstone, who portrays Osage Native Mollie Burkhart in the film. If there is any justice in this world, Gladstone will win the Oscar for Best Actress.

It was Elise, co-founder of Poetry in Motion, whose poem is spoken in the voice of Mollie Burkhart, who first brought Mollie’s story to wider attention. (In the film, Mollie’s husband, Ernest Burkhart, is portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio.) 

After you hear Elise, make sure you catch the trailer for our documentary, Long Knife, produced by George DiCaprio and Greg Palast, which brings the story of the Osage up to date, focusing on the Osage Nation’s fight against the thievery of the Brothers Koch.

This video was filmed by Battiste Fenwick on the Osage Reservation and edited by Esther Shubinski | @manytrailsproduction.

Elise Paschen 's poem “Wi’-gi-e” is published in Bestiary (Red Hen Press, 2009).

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