Covered with Night

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 colonistsa pair of colonial fur traders brutally assaulted a Seneca hunter near ConestogaPennsylvania. Though virtually forgotten todaythe crime ignited a contest between Native American forms of justiceΓÇörooted in communityforgivenessand reparationsΓÇöand the colonial ideology of harsh reprisal that called for the accused killers to be executed if found guilty. In Covered with Nighthistorian Nicole Eustace reconstructs the attack and its aftermathintroducing a group of unforgettable individualsΓÇöfrom the slain manΓÇÖs resilient widow to an Indigenous diplomat known as ΓÇ£Captain CivilityΓÇ¥ to the scheming governor of PennsylvaniaΓÇöas she narrates a remarkable series of criminal investigations and cross-cultural negotiations. Taking its title from a Haudenosaunee metaphor for mourningCovered with Night ultimately urges us to consider Indigenous approaches to grief and condolencerupture and repairas we seek new avenues of justice in our own era.