Covered with Night: A Story of Murder and Indigenous Justice in Early America

Written by Nicole Eustace

Narrated by Laural Merlington

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.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Jun 22, 2021
• ISBN: 9781705282144

Nicole Eustace

Nicole Eustace is Julius Silver, Roslyn S. Silver, and Enid Silver Winslow Professor of History at New York University.

Reviews for Covered with Night

[muddyboy · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A wonderfully researched study of a little known killing of a native American by two brothers in Pennsylvania colony in 1722. This was significant because it could have led to a war between the tribal confederation and local colonists. The study focuses on the negotiations between the two groups. It is interesting that the tribal punishments were much more lenient than the colonies. There is lots of focus on the wheeling and dealing of local politicians and the traditions and culture of the native American.s.A great book.

[pharmacdon · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Historians have an insight and hindsight advantage over the participants of history. Historians should not impose that advantage over the participants in discussing historical events. Such is the case with “Covered with Night.” All colonialists should have known what the natives were thinking and doing. All natives should have known, to a less extent, what the colonialists were thinking and doing. Unfortunately, the author tilts the scale against the colonialists for apparent reasons. This book is a big DNF for me. I managed to get to the halfway mark but finally gave up. The story would have been interesting, but it got bogged down in details and sidelines and, most obvious, the author adding her spin. A slave led a rebellion in Jamaica with a similar name as a slave in Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania slave was attributed to have a rebellious spirit by not planting seeds correctly, as recorded in a journal by the owner. I know a few people named Joe, but not all are presidents of the United States. To add to historical fact is called fiction.

[citizenjoyce · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a history book about early interactions between American colonists and Native Americans in the 18th century. A semi-important Native American is murdered by two semi-important colonists. Because the colonists value the copper on the land they feel they have to pretend that their idea of justice applies equally to both colonists and natives. They arrest the 2 perpetrators, throw them in jail, put them in irons, and plan to execute them. The Native Americans don't agree with the idea of jailing people and definitely don't agree with killing them in the name of justice. Their idea of justice is to support the community by keeping important members within the community, requiring them to voice their remorse over their actions, supporting the grief of the rest of the community, and providing financial compensation. Over and over, the colonists fail to comprehend or even consider that there is an idea of justice that differs from their own.

[japaul22 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In 1722, when the Cartlidge brothers meet with an indigenous trader named Sawantaeny, there is an argument over the trade and Sawantaeny ends up dead. How the Cartlidge brothers will be punished and how amends will be made to Sawantaeny's people becomes the heart of the book. An event that has probably happened countless time over the centuries, in this case is the impetus for a meeting between six tribe leaders and the leaders of the Pennsylvania colony, resulting in a Treaty documenting the events. Eustace takes this information and skillfully unpacks it to learn about many aspects of life in the early colonies.

Among the topics she explores are the differences between colonial and Indigenous ideas of justice and punishment, the use and abuse of alcohol in trading, the differences in land ownership and use between Europeans and Native Americans, and the squabbles between the colonists as they try to secure valuable land for mining and monetary purposes.

Throughout this book it amazed me to think that 400 years later, I could read about this event and learn so much from it. I'm sure those involved would never have imagined it being discussed so far in the future!

Overall I liked this book, but a warning that it is written in a scholarly tone and is dense. I definitely lost track of the trajectory of the book a couple of times and lost interest a bit as well. But overall I think it's worth the time if you're interested in the topic/time period and are ready to put a little work in to reading it.