Mean Spirit

Oil is the most pervasive symbol within the text, and its many mentions mirror the proliferation of oil infrastructure on Osage land: “Across the land, oil derricks numbered as many and as far as the eye could see” (319). Oil symbolizes the double-edged sword that is progress, modernity, and wealth. It also connects the exploitation of Indigenous people and the exploitation of their land as interrelated, co-constructing forces. When oil is discovered on land previously thought to be worthless (and made available to the Osage people only because the government deemed it worthless), it seems like a boon to the Osage people. A once-struggling community finds itself in much different circumstances, and the added wealth initially seems to bolster the community.

However, the oil cannot be read as a straightforward benefit to the Osage community. Rather, it illuminates a series of tensions and power dynamics, developing the themes of Greed, Corruption, and Anti-Indigenous Racism and The Exploitation of Indigenous People, Land, and Resources. The government would never have made the land available to an Indigenous community if they had been aware of its resources. Once oil is discovered, severe limitations are placed upon the Osage people.