Description
Book SynopsisAn immersive tale of the killing of a Native American man and its far-reaching implications for the definition of justice from early America to today
Trade Review"[Eustace] reveals forgotten treasures in America’s attic... She draws from dozens of primary sources and hundreds of secondary ones, yet seamlessly weaves them into a cohesive, compelling narrative full of intrigue and pathos.... Drawing repeated distinctions between rigid, albeit unfairly applied, British law (perpetrator-focused, reprisal-oriented, punishment driven) and the justice of the Haudenosaunee (victim-focused, restitution-oriented, harmony-driven)... Eustace manages to maintain the narrative tension.... formally documenting a more humane, healing vision of what justice could be – and once was – in this country." -- Dana Dunham - Chicago Review of Books
"Listening keenly and insightfully to Native voices in colonial records, Nicole Eustace deftly recovers a revealing tale of murder and justice across a cultural frontier at a critical moment for the future of our continent. A great read and an important book." -- Alan Taylor, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Thomas Jefferson’s Education
"Nicole Eustace crafts a thoroughly original and compelling account of eighteenth-century America, its volatile societies and cultural boundaries, and especially the conflicts between Native people and colonial newcomers over how justice itself might be defined in America. Her answers are surprising, enlightening, and worthy of rediscovery." -- Matthew Dennis, professor emeritus of history at the University of Oregon and author of Seneca Possessed: Indians, Witchcraft, and Power in the Early American Republic