Covered with Night: A Story of Murder and Indigenous Justice in Early America by Eustace, Nicole

In the winter of 1722, on the eve of a major conference between the Five Nations of the Haudenosaunee (also known as the Iroquois) and Anglo-American colonists, a pair of colonial fur traders brutally assaulted a Seneca hunter near Conestoga, Pennsylvania. Though virtually forgotten today, the crime ignited a contest between Native American forms of justice--rooted in community, forgiveness, and reparations--and the colonial ideology of harsh reprisal that called for the accused killers to be executed if found guilty. In Covered with Night, historian Nicole Eustace reconstructs the attack and its aftermath, introducing a group of unforgettable individuals--from the slain man's resilient widow to an Indigenous diplomat known as "Captain Civility" to the scheming governor of Pennsylvania--as she narrates a remarkable series of criminal investigations and cross-cultural negotiations. Taking its title from a Haudenosaunee metaphor for mourning, Covered with Night ultimately urges us to consider Indigenous approaches to grief and condolence, rupture and repair, as we seek new avenues of justice in our own era.

Author: Nicole Eustace
Publisher: Liveright Publishing Corporation
Published: 04/27/2021
Pages: 464
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.70lbs
Size: 9.50h x 6.50w x 1.50d
ISBN: 9781631495878
Award: National Book Awards - Finalist
Award: Pulitzer Prize - Winner

Review Citation(s):
Library Journal Prepub Alert 11/01/2020 pg. 68
Publishers Weekly 02/22/2021
Library Journal 03/01/2021 pg. 95
Kirkus Reviews 03/15/2021