Summary

Chapter Four briefly traces the history of the Osage tribe. Prior to white expansion throughout the continent, the Osage dominated the land acquired through the Louisiana Purchase. President Jefferson, after promising to be a father to the tribe, forced them to leave their territory between the Arkansas and Missouri rivers and move to Southeastern Kansas. The tribe was forced to move again, this time by encroaching settlers, to land that would become Oklahoma. Mollie’s father, Ne-Kah-e-se-y, and Lizzie were among those who moved from Kansas to the new reservation. These repeated moves made it difficult for the tribe to maintain traditional customs like semi-annual buffalo hunts, during which the entire tribe would follow and hunt herds of buffalo on horseback. Despite this, tribal leaders were determined to preserve their society and settled in Oklahoma because they believed white settlers would be uninterested...