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

02/22/2021

NYU history professor Eustace (1812: War and the Passions of Patriotism) delivers an immersive account of the fallout from the 1722 killing of a Seneca Indian hunter by two white fur traders in Pennsylvania. Eustace describes how the assault sparked fears of an all-out war between colonists and the Five Nations of the Haudenosaunee, and details months of intense negotiations resulting in the still-recognized Albany Treaty of 1722. She draws a sharp contrast between Indigenous principles of justice, which sought “emotional reconciliation and economic restitution for the resolution of crimes,” and Pennsylvania’s strict new penal code, which required the suspects to be imprisoned and executed if found guilty. Eustace also delves into Indigenous concepts of land ownership and the prominent role of women within the Five Nations; explores the rift between the Quaker founders of Pennsylvania and later Anglican settlers; and notes that the Albany Treaty, which ceded new lands in western Pennsylvania and New York to the colonists, is also a record of restorative justice achieved through condolence ceremonies and reparation payments. Throughout, she makes excellent use of primary sources to convey the sophisticated rhetorical strategies of Native negotiators. Early American history buffs will be fascinated. (Apr.)

"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."

"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."

"[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."

03/01/2021

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

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

★ 2021-02-18
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.