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Pequot man hunter

   Obviously a result of constant intertribal warfare over an extended period, the central political power of the Pequot was an exception among the eastern Algonquin tribes who usually lived in peace with each other and therefore had little need of a tribal organization beyond a few villages under a common sachem. Although the exact timing of their migration is unclear, this distinctive characteristic indicates that the Y-dialect tribes (Algonquin (Pequot, Mohegan, Niantic, Narragansett, and the Montauk and Shinnecock of the Metoac) were fairly recent arrivals in southern New England. Most of the older histories written about Native Americans begin with a vague description of where a particular tribe came from before the Europeans "discovered" them, the result of someone asking a question enough until they finally get an answer they wanted. Unfortunately, this has left most people with the impression that tribes never stayed in one place for long, a conclusion which, for obvious reasons, was attractive to Europeans, since it allowed them to ignore native claims to the land.

Pequot village

   Actually, migration was not that common until European settlement started displacing the eastern tribes and began a chain reaction of movement to the west. It appears that most of the New England Algonquin occupied their homelands for hundreds, perhaps thousands, of years before the arrival of Europeans in North America. However, the Pequot-Mohegan and the related Y-dialect tribes appear to have been an exception to this general rule. By their own traditions, the Pequot originally came from the upper Hudson Valley where they may well have been a part of the mysterious Adirondack who dominated the individual tribes of the Iroquois before the formation of the Iroquois League. Once they had joined together, the Iroquois were able to defeat the Adirondack whose departure from the New York mountains which bear their name left a large area near Lake Champlain relatively unoccupied. Even though they were physically separated during the historic period, the persistent, mutual animosity which existed between the Pequot and Mohawk after contact seems to confirm this possibility.

Pequot Mashantucket man

   Many of the Pequot gradually drifted away from the confines of their small reservations, and their numbers in Connecticut continued to decline until there were only 66 by the time of the 1910 census. Currently, there are almost 1,000 Pequot, but things have changed dramatically for the Mashantucket in recent years. Connecticut sold off 600 acres of their reservation without permission in 1856, and a lawsuit filed in 1976 to recover this land resulted in a $700,000 settlement. Federal recognition was received in 1983, and after a successful bingo operation, an incredibly profitable gambling casino was opened in 1992 which has made the Mashantucket Pequot the wealthiest group of Native Americans in the United States. After a 350 year truce, the Mashantucket may actually have won the Pequot War.

Grand Chief Sachem Screaming Eagle

   Grand Chief Sachem Screaming Eagle. Tribal Council Elder. James L. Williams Sr. has been an Elder of the Paucatuck Eastern Pequot Tribal Council since 1972. He was named Tribal Chief of the Paucatuck Eastern Pequot Tribe in 1989, and named Grand Chief Sachem of the Paucatuck Eastern Pequot Tribe in 1996. His term as Tribal Council Elder is for life. He is also Grand Chief Sachem of the Tribe for life.

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