Combined with the Mohegans, the Pequots numbered far more than 20,000 people before first contact with Europeans. After first contact, this number was drastically reduced due to epidemics caused by diseases such as smallpox brought into their villages by Europeans. This number was even further reduced as they became the 1st New England tribe to engage in a major battle with the colonists in the Pequot War of 1637, near Mystic, Connecticut.
There are currently 2 separate tribes of Pequots in Connecticut - the Mashantucket or Western Pequots of Ledyard, Connecticut, and the Paucatuck or Eastern Pequots in North Stonington, Connecticut. Originally these 2 tribes were the same, but in 1666 the Mashantucket Reservation was established, and in 1683 the Paucatuck Reservation of Long Pond was established.
Today's Paucatuck Pequot Tribe have a reservation of close to 225 acres with about 600 members. The Paucatuck are not federally recognized, but do have Connecticut state recognition. Today's Mashantucket Pequot Tribe are a federally recognized tribe with more than 3,000 areas of land base, a small portion of it acquired through the Mashantucket Pequot Indian Land Claims Settlement Act of 1983, and the vast majority of land purchased through other economic development initiatives. The current Mashantucket Pequot tribal role is about 300 members. The Pequot, Montauk, Narragansett, Niantic, Nipmuc, Shinnecock, and other tribes referred to indiscriminately as "Mohegan" in history texts were originally distinct tribes, each with several autonomous bands. However, due to heavy population losses and aggressive colonial expansion, the Indian tribes of New England were scattered, merged, and assimilated to such a degree that they lost their languages and much of their individual tribal characters. Though the Mohegan tribes for the most part quietly assimilated into New England society, they never gave up their Indian identity, and have retained several small reservations in Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Long Island. In recent years the Connecticut Pequot and Mohegan tribes have become some of the wealthiest Native American bands due to successful management of tribal casinos.
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