Chief Big Eagle and the Golden Hill Tribe of the Paugussett Nation

Chief Big Eagle and Family

This site was curated by the students of HIS339, Settler Colonialisms, (Spring, 2023; Dr. Kris Klein Hernández, Assistant Professor) at Connecticut College. 

The students assisted in creating item-level descriptions for a finding aid for the Chief Big Eagle Correspondence collection housed at the Lear Center for Special Collections and Archives.

This virtual exhibit grew out of that work and is presented here as a glimpse into the life of Aurelius H. Piper, Sr. (Chief Big Eagle, 1916-2008) who assumed the role of hereditary chief of the Golden Hill Tribe of the Paugussett Nation in 1959. The Golden Hill Tribe is the smallest and one of the oldest Tribal Nations in America. 

We hope you enjoy this virtual exhibit.

Chief Big Eagle and the Golden Hill Tribe of the Paugussett Nation