Historically, the Paugussett occupied a region from present-day Norwalk to West Haven, and from Long Island Sound inland for as far as they could navigate by canoe on the Housatonic and Naugatuck rivers.

The size of midden shell heaps along the coast and the amount of cleared land attested to both a long period of occupation and a high degree of social organization among the people.

While this community consisted substantially of residents who identified as Paugussett, it included Natives from the Mahican, Shinnecock, Nehantic, and Munsee-Delaware nations as well.

There has been disagreement among groups over an interpretation of the term "mulatto," which has a primary association of African-European mixed race but has frequently been applied to other people of colour.

[13][5] Around 1857 William Sherman (1825–1886), a whaler by trade withdrew from the Liberia community and settled in the village of Nichols Farms in the Town of Trumbull, Connecticut, the site of the 1841-54 Turkey Meadows reservation.

Ethel was active in the Pan-Indian movement and was a staunch advocate of Indian rights, fighting many battles in the courts of law and public opinion.

Known as Chief Quiet Hawk, Piper was an ex-Marine and former social worker who was then serving as executive director of American Indians for Development, Inc.

In September, 1992, Quiet Hawk filed a lawsuit to reclaim lands taken from the tribe in violation of the federal Nonintercourse Act.

Within a few short weeks historic reservation lands in the towns of Milford, Orange, Woodbridge, Stratford, and Shelton were added; intent was made known to press claims in 24 state municipalities, comprising $44 billion worth of property and 640,000 defendants.

Another priority was to utilize modern technology to facilitate interaction among tribal members and to strengthen community bonds and spiritual focus.

A vote of the tribal membership affirmed his succession by his brother Aureliuse H. Piper III, oldest surviving son of Chief Big Eagle, on November 14, 2022.

In 1993 the tribe made national headlines when it opened a tax-free cigarette shop on the Colchester reservation, asserting its sovereignty in selling the product without taking taxes.

An armed standoff with state police ensued that ended without violence when Chief Moon Face Bear (Kenneth Piper) agreed to close the shop.

[2] Chief Big Eagle first submitted a request to the BIA in 1982 seeking federal recognition of the Golden Hill Paugussett tribe.

Opposition to federal recognition came from local residents who were opposed to proposed Golden Hill casino development in Bridgeport.

[16] Some scholars have attributed opposition to anti-Indigenous and anti-Black racism, noting the mixed-race heritage of many Golden Hill Paugussetts.

[22][23] In 2017, the Golden Hill Paugussett announced their intention to contest the "no second chance" rule as unconstitutional and said that they were working on another application for federal recognition.

They succeeded in gaining a BIA review of both cases; after a change in political administrations, recognition of both tribes was revoked in 2005, actions without precedent.

[1][26] In 1992, Chief Quiet Hawk filed a lawsuit claiming 80 acres in Bridgeport, the site of Golden Hill, which the state had sold in 1802, as well as land in Trumbull and Orange.

Since the United States was formed, the federal government had reserved to itself authority over dealings with Native American nations and required approval by the Senate of any sale of Indian lands.