Golden Hill Paugussett Indian Nation - History

History

While the history of the Paugussett Nation dates back to earlier times, written records begin with the arrival of Europeans on North American shores. At the time explorers first arrived, The Paugussets, an Algonquian-speaking nation, occupied a region bounded roughly by the coast of Long Island Sound from Norwalk to New Haven and the inland areas along the Housatonic River and Naugatuck River as far as they were navigable by canoe. The tribe was divided into four primary sub-groups, the Paugussett Proper in what is present day Milford, Derby and Shelton; the Pequonnock, along the coast; the Pootatuck in Newtown, Woodbury and Southbury and the Weantinock in New Milford. They were a farming and fishing culture, cultivating corn, squash, beans and tobacco and fishing in both fresh and saltwater. The size of 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.