How Settlers Get Away with Murder

"With remarkable depth and precision, Liza Black has conducted an extraordinary investigation into the life and tragic death of my mother, Levina Moody. Her commitment to uncovering the truth has surpassed that of any official investigative body. Combining the rigor of a seasoned researcher with the narrative skill of a gifted author, Black brings both clarity and compassion to a story long overlooked. For far too long, Indigenous women have been seen as dispensable. Her work is not only compelling—it is essential to all who have lost a loved one. I look forward to reading much more from her in the future." —Vanessa Hans

“Liza brings forth alarming accounts of our ancestors’ untold stories. The read created such an emotional impact in confirming our ancestor’s strength and powerful resolve.” —Cherokee Nation relation of Lydia Kingfisher

"Liza Black’s book could not come at a more critical time—when the abduction and murder of Indigenous girls and women, as well as two-spirit people, are at an all-time high, while little is being done to prevent this hideous phenomenon that is the product of ongoing white supremacy and lingering colonialism." —Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, author of An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States

“How Settlers Get Away with Murder takes the reader through several cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and Two-Spirit people (MMIWGT) across time and space in the Americas. Dr. Black has compiled a meticulous set of facts that allows her to 'replace silence with truth,' as she notes. Her research does not blame the victims; instead, she indicts the systems that allow killers to evade responsibility and prosecution. The stories told here showcase the importance of voice and resistance to erasure in all forms. Dr. Black documents how human and systemic obstacles continue to obstruct reporting, investigating, or even counting the cases of MMIWGT. This is a phenomenal contribution to our understanding of the ongoing violence perpetrated throughout the Americas against MMIWGT and should be a call to action for more research, reporting, and, ultimately, accountability." —Randall Akee, Julie Johnson Kidd Professor of Indigenous Governance and Development, Harvard Kennedy School

"Delivered with compelling evidence and unflinching prose, Black exposes the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous women, girls, and Two-Spirit people as a symptom of settler colonialism’s hunger for power and control. Delivered in the style of a true-crime documentary, Black adds compassion, empathy, and outrage to a genre that ordinarily omits Indigenous stories." —Hiʻilei Julia Kawehipuaakahaopulani Hobart, assistant professor of Native and Indigenous studies and director of Graduate Study, Program in Ethnicity, Race, and Migration, Yale University