Indian Country

Trumbull, Connecticut (AP) 8-08

Aurelius H. Piper, Sr., hereditary chief of the Golden Hill Paugussett Tribe, passed away the morning of Aug. 3 of natural causes on the tribe’s reservation in Trumbull, tribal officials said. He was 92.

Known as Big Eagle, Piper was named chief in 1959 by his mother, Chieftess Rising Star, and later took over residence and care of the tribe’s one-quarter acre reservation in Trumbull.

Though small, the tribe has been recognized by the state of Connecticut for more than 300 years and has small reservations in Trumbull and Colchester. In 2004, however, the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs rejected the tribe’s request for federal recognition.

During the fight for recognition, the Paugussetts filed claims to more than 700,000 acres of land, setting off a flurry of legal challenges. The land claims, which stretched from Middletown to Wilton, and from Greenwich through lower Westchester County in New York, were eventually dropped, but could have been revived if the tribe had received federal recognition.

In 1993, Piper’s son Kenneth, also known as Moonface Bear, was the central figure in 10-week armed standoff between state police and the Colchester faction of the tribe, for selling untaxed cigarettes on its reservation. Kenneth Piper died in 1996.

Big Eagle traveled the world as a representative of the Golden Hill Tribe, Native Americans and other minority groups.

He visited Moscow as part of a delegation of American Indian leaders and was the foreign correspondent for eastern North American tribes to the De Kiva Journal. The De Kivas are a group based in Belgium and the Netherlands, which takes Indian rights cases before the International Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Piper served on many boards and commissions throughout Connecticut, fighting for the rights of American Indians and other minority groups. He also served as a spiritual liaison to Native Americans in prison.

Chief Big Eagle was named “Chief of the Century” by the Florida chapter of the White Buffalo Society “for his work in furthering Native American causes in Connecticut, across the country, and abroad.”

He also served in the United States military during World War II, where he participated in the landing of North Africa, according to the tribe.

He is survived by his wife, Marsha Conte Piper, five children, several stepchildren, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

A traditional Native American memorial mourning walk was held on Aug. 7. at the Nichols Farm Cemetery on Shelton Road in Trumbull.