Covered with Night

March 1, 2021

In 1722, the alcohol-fueled murder of a Seneca man, Sawantaeny, by two white fur traders led to the Great Treaty of 1722, "the oldest continuously recognized Indigenous treaty in Anglo-American law." Yet as Eustace (history, New York Univ.; Passion Is the Gale) explains in this thoroughly detailed book, the criminal trial that informed the land treaty arose out of colonists' desire to hang the murderers, while Haudenosaunee Confederacy diplomats sought emotional reconciliation and economic restitution for the murder. The author covers the lengthy trial and eventual land treaty that brought forth a greater understanding of concepts of justice in Haudenosaunee and other Indigenous traditions and how those conflicted with the beliefs of colonists. Relying on primary sources, including colonial writings, Eustace's account offers not only the history of the trial, but also an inclusive examination of ongoing clashes over the possession of land rights. Black-and-white illustrations of colonial letters throughout add context. VERDICT A scholarly history that questions the misconception that Indigenous concepts of justice were brutal. While well-documented, such a complex historical analysis is best suited for academics and informed subject specialists.--Jessica Bushore, Xenia, OH

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March 15, 2021
A complex tale of a now-forgotten crime that shaped Native-White relations in the British Colonies of North America. In Pennsylvania in the winter of 1722, John and Edmund Cartlidge, fur traders, visited a Seneca hunter named Sawantaeny. The brothers plied him with booze, writes NYU history professor Eustace, "hoping to lubricate their negotiations with enough alcohol that Sawantaeny would be too content to desire anything more valuable than second-rate rum for his efforts, if not too compromised to demand a fair deal." When rum didn't do the trick and Sawantaeny produced a musket, Edmund, a hulking man, grabbed it and hit Sawantaeny hard enough to shatter his skull. That the proposed trade was unfair was not lost on the nearby Natives who heard the story, including representatives from nations up and down the coast and far inland and powerful members of the Iroquois Nation. A mendacious Colonial governor tried to keep a lid on the murder while the governor of next-door Maryland was quick to order an aide "to contrive to let the Indians know that the Murderers are under the Pennsylvania Government and that we are no ways Concern'd in it." From these basic elements--and with a vivid cast of characters that expands to include a shrewd go-between named "Captain Civility," who spoke all the languages of the Susquehanna River Valley and embodied the Indigenous tradition "of assigning a person to take up membership in multiple communities, serving as the living embodiment of civil society"--the author fashions an engrossing historical excavation. The case traveled far, informing treaty agreements that were held in force for decades even as John Cartlidge proved a go-between on his own merits. The story has countless moving parts and one central mystery that demand subtle exposition, and Eustace navigates it all with skill and economy. A fine contribution to the literature of Colonial America, where peace was far harder to achieve than war.

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