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Title details for Covered with Night by Nicole Eustace - Available

Covered with Night

A Story of Murder and Indigenous Justice in Early America

by Nicole Eustace
Laural Merlington
Audiobook
1 of 2 copies available
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1 of 2 copies available
On the eve of a major treaty conference between Iroquois leaders and European colonists in the distant summer of 1722, two white fur traders attacked an Indigenous hunter and left him for dead near Conestoga, Pennsylvania. Though virtually forgotten today, this act of brutality set into motion a remarkable series of criminal investigations and cross-cultural negotiations that challenged the definition of justice in early America.
In Covered with Night, leading historian Nicole Eustace reconstructs the crime and its aftermath, bringing us into the overlapping worlds of white colonists and Indigenous peoples in this formative period. Frantic efforts to resolve the case ignited a dramatic, far-reaching debate between Native American forms of justice—centered on community, forgiveness, and reparations—and an ideology of harsh reprisal, unique to the colonies and based on British law, which called for the killers' swift execution.
In charting the far-reaching ramifications of the murder, Covered with Night—a phrase from Iroquois mourning practices—overturns persistent assumptions about "civilized" Europeans and "savage" Native Americans. A necessary work of historical reclamation, it ultimately revives a lost vision of crime and punishment that reverberates down into our own time.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Awards

  • Release date

    June 22, 2021

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781705282151
      • File size: 419402 KB
      • Duration: 14:33:45

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      This memorable audiobook, narrated by Laural Merlington, is a deep dive into the now obscure and largely forgotten 1722 Pennsylvania murder of Sawantaeny, a Seneca hunter, by John and Edmund Cartlidge. The two white traders were upset that Sawantaeny was resisting what they considered to be a fair deal. Eustace uses the crime and its aftermath as a starting point to explore white and Indigenous justice, traditions, and politics of the time. Merlington's performance, delivered in her slightly deep voice, is steady but expressive enough to hold the listener's attention. There are some sudden changes between past and present tense that might give the listener a bit of audio whiplash, but that is a minor quibble about a fascinating look at a little-appreciated era of American history. G.S. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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