Native Voices: Osage Representation in Film ft. Joel Robinson

Joel Robinson is a citizen of the Osage Nation who currently lives in Louisville, Kentucky. He has a Bachelor's from Eastern Kentucky University in Recreational Park Administration and a Master's from Northwestern State University in Parks and Recreation Management. He currently works as an Evening and Weekend Studies Coordinator at a trade school in Kentucky while pursuing freelance writing projects.

Joel joins us on the show to share more about his article Killers of the Flower Moon is not the movie an Osage would have made. You should still see it, why he wrote it, how it went viral and the reaction since then. We discuss Scorsese’s recent film Killers of the Flower Moon, why it is great but isn’t telling the story from the point of the Osage Nation, and the effect of the Reign of Terror on the Osage Nation. He also shares his personal history as a member of the Osage Nation, tells the story of his family, and talks about problems confronting the Native American Nations.


It would take an Osage to tell the story from the Osage perspective.”’ - Joel Robinson


This week on Disarming Data:

• Joel Robinson discusses his perspective on a viral film article with Paige and her dad
• When and why membership to the Osage nation changed
• The history of the Osage Nation and how discovering oil changed their way of life
• Why the previous chief wanted to create an orthography for the Osage language so that it could be written down
• Joel’s knowledge and family experience of the Reign of Terror
• Why Joel believes that the film The Killers of the Flower Moon depicted the story from the perspective of the people committing the crimes
• Joel’s thoughts on how effective the FBI was in solving the crimes
• How the Osage rights to the oil rights currently works
• How Joel is currently exploring his Osage heritage and connecting with the former Chief of the Osage Nation
• How Native American Nation issues are viewed today and why they’re not as widely reported as other populations

Resources Mentioned:

• Killers of the Flower Moon is not the movie an Osage would have made. You should still see it.
• Osage Ceremonial Dance I'n-lon-schka by Alice Ann Callahan
• A Pipe for February: A Novel by Charles H. Red Corn
• Killers of the Flower Moon: Oil, Money, Murder and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann
• Project 562: Changing the Way We See Native America by Makita Wilbur

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