Walk in Two Worlds
Killers of the Flower Moon“Walk in Two Worlds” is both a description of divided cultural circumstances and a declaration of continuity. In the Osage ballet Wahzhazhe, the phrase links the Osage Nation’s history of outside pressure and violence to the continuing work of holding on to culture and traditions within a predominantly non-Indian society.
The phrase in Wahzhazhe
The phrase appears in the opening statement of a recorded performance of Wahzhazhe, shown at the Constantine Theater in Pawhuska in May 2013. The ballet’s title means “Osage,” and its statement describes the present as a condition in which “our hearts are divided between two worlds.” It also names the response: “We are strong and courageous, learning to walk in these two worlds, hanging on to the threads of our culture and traditions as we live in a predominantly non-Indian society.” The closing words, “We walk in two worlds,” turn that account into a concise refrain.
The statement does not present the two worlds as an easy balance. Its image of hanging on to threads suggests that cultural continuity requires effort, while its emphasis on strength and courage frames that effort as active rather than resigned. The phrase holds division and persistence together: life in a predominantly non-Indian society is real, but it does not erase the attachment to Osage culture, history, and home.
A history staged across two worlds
Wahzhazhe gives the phrase historical depth by tracing the Osage Nation from life on the plains through encounters with European explorers and missionaries and into the oil rush. The ballet’s sequence makes the collision between worlds visible as a change in the conditions of Osage life. Its opening statement recalls that the Osage were once described in missionary journals as “the happiest people in the world,” then says that the economic drive of the European world placed the Osage Nation in its way and changed life as it had been known.
The choreography carries that history from prosperity into terror. Dancers appear as flappers, turning to jazz, before the sounds of an explosion interrupt the scene. The music and movement then become mournful, and a sequence of funeral dances evokes the Osage Reign of Terror. The phrase’s divided worlds are thus not merely two ways of life placed side by side: the performance shows an encounter shaped by economic pressure, murder, and loss, while the continued dancing makes Osage history present onstage.
Continuity, memory, and home
The opening statement broadens the phrase beyond a description of social division. It connects the Osage Nation’s history and culture to home, plains, morning songs, and the beat of the drum, presenting cultural memory as something carried forward rather than left behind in the past. In this context, walking in two worlds means living within a predominantly non-Indian society while maintaining ties to traditions and a collective history.
The performance’s location reinforces that act of remembrance. The Constantine Theater was a place where Mollie Burkhart and Ernest Burkhart had once sat, and where oil auctions were held during bad weather. Restored after nearing demolition in the early 1980s, it became a setting in which an Osage ballet could bring the history of the oil rush and the Reign of Terror before a contemporary audience. The phrase names the tension the work stages, but also its answer: the past remains part of the present, and Osage culture continues to speak through performance.
