Scott George, Native American musician, competes with Billie Eilish and Mark Ronson

The Osage musician, who composed a song for the Martin Scorsese film “Killers of the Flower Moon”, is expected in Los Angeles for the Oscars.

Scott George lives in the US state of Oklahoma, where he spends his weeks finding affordable housing for Native American families and his weekends singing at Osage festivals. Set like clockwork, this routine will be disrupted by a trip to Los Angeles next month for the Oscars, where the song he composed for Martin Scorsese will be in the running for an award, notably against Billie Eilish and Mark Ronson. “I think you could use the word ‘surreal'” to describe this disrupted daily life, confides the artist.

Scott George is a member of the Osage Native American people, whose tragic fate is at the heart of the plot of Killers of the Flower Moon, Martin Scorsese’s latest film. It recounts the murders that targeted these people to monopolize their wealth from oil, in Oklahoma at the beginning of the 20th century. A dark story which seems to come straight from the minds of Hollywood screenwriters but which is anchored in very real facts. The film is up for ten awards at the Academy Awards on March 10. Its soundtrack was composed by Robbie Robertson, who is of Native American descent. But Martin Scorsese also wanted at all costs to have an authentic Osage song at the end of this feature film lasting more than three hours.

“It belongs to us”

Scott George remembers when one of his fellow musicians spotted the director in the stands during a traditional dance ceremony. “I was like, Oh wow, he’s looking at us,” says the singer. “So when he asked us if we could do the song (for the film), we knew what he wanted.” The musician’s first response was to say no: many Osage songs contain the names of old warriors dating back two or three centuries. “They are ours. They belong to us,” justifies Scott George.

After a series of discussions with the team, the artist finally agreed to compose an original song for the film. The result : Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People), a powerful six and a half minute anthem encouraging the Osage people to stand up and be proud, after surviving so much. The film and song came at just the right time for elders, who have embarked on a campaign to educate younger people about their history and remind them that “we are not relics” of the past, salutes Geoffrey Standing Bear , chief of the Osage Nation.

“Music for my people”

Being shortlisted for 15 titles at the Oscars was already an achievement for the team. This was without counting on the announcement of the nomination of the piece in the category “best song”. “It’s great, isn’t it?” rejoices actress Lily Gladstone, of Native American origin. “It was so important to me that an Osage person be named.” Scott George is more mixed. “Making music for my people makes me happy”he says. “Apart from that, it’s a little more complicated… I don’t know exactly what I want.”

However, he applauds the fact that this style of music, often “depicted comically in cartoons”, is finally recognized as an art form in its own right. “We understand that it’s niche, and it probably always will be a little bit. But I hope people can listen to it and feel all the energy of it,” he indicates. Although it has not yet been confirmed, Scott George could perform his song during the ceremony, as is generally the case for the five artists nominated in this category.

In the meantime, he has already attended several prestigious events in Hollywood, where he met “rivals” like Billie Eilish or Jon Batiste. “The other day on a Zoom call we were all together and I was a little amazed. I was wondering who these people were and what I was doing here,” he smiled.