Eastern Pequot Tribal Nation Grand Chief Sachem Screaming Eagle, James Lloyd Williams Senior, passed away on July 31, 2004. Born July 7, 1939, in Westerly, Rhode Island, the Chief, as most people knew him, grew up on the family farm in Warwick and attended Lockwood High School before enlisting in the army for active and reserve duty.
The Chief’s grandfather, Silver Star, was Grand Chief Sachem of the Paucatuck Eastern Pequots until his death in 1955. His father, Prince Leaping Deer, took over as Grand Chief Sachem in 1955 and served until he died in 1979. Chief Screaming Eagle was one of five brothers and two sisters. He is survived by sisters Agnes E. Cunha and Frances Young and predeceased by his father and mother Helen R. Murphy Williams as well as his brothers Atwood I. Williams III, William D. Williams, Marlboro Gardner Williams, and Richard Edwin Williams. Atwood and Richard acted as Grand Sachems before their deaths, a position Chief Screaming Eagle proudly assumed in 1991. He is also survived by his loving wife Jean and his children, James Lloyd Williams, Jr. and Helen R. Williams Nixon Mollohan, as well as six grandchildren, James Lloyd Williams III, Raymond A. Williams, Morgan Nixon, Courtney Nixon, Lauren Nixon and Gary Nixon Jr.
The Chief’s father, Grand Chief Sachem Leaping Deer, always wanted his children to renew and strengthen their connection to their ancestral lands. In 1979, Leaping Deer issued a call to each of his children to return to the reservation and the Chief heeded the call, moving his entire family back to the Lantern Hill reservation in North Stonington, where they still live today. Throughout his adult life, the Chief worked in construction and as a mechanic to support his wife and children. He was an active member of the Democratic Town Committee in North Stonington.
Chief Screaming Eagle was devoted to his tribe and to the cause of all Native Americans. A private person who did not seek accolades for his efforts, his work was often behind the scenes. He was a member of the Paucatuck Tribal Council beginning in the late 1960s and rarely missed a meeting. While on the council, the Chief helped organize the Tribe’s Pow Wows, ensuring that the Tribe’s long heritage remained central to the gatherings. As Chief, he oversaw council activities and was an integral part of the traditional naming ceremonies for babies born to tribal members. As part of the Paucatuck’s petition team, he worked tirelessly with other tribal members and experts to gather documentary evidence of the Tribe’s history and genealogy. He also traveled throughout New England consulting with other tribes on their Pow Wows and cultural celebrations.
In 2002, the Bureau of Indian Affairs issued their historic decision affirming that the Paucatuck and Eastern Pequot Indians were and always had been a single tribe and together met all seven criteria for recognition as a federal tribe. Within days of that decision, the two segments of the Tribe began meeting frequently to work out their political differences. The Chief was instrumental in the process of reuniting the various tribal families. “Chief Screaming Eagle’s support for the Tribe’s reunification was a key to the healing process among our families,” comments Marcia Jones Flowers, Chairwoman of the Tribal Council. “He focused us on all we shared: history, culture, religion, and the land; with his help we moved past the relatively minor political divisions left from years ago.”The Chief continued as Grand Sachem of the re-unified tribe, and was waiting anxiously for the conclusion of the legal challenges to the decision. “We’ve lost another close family member and elder who won’t see his dreams for the Tribe come true simply because of the unfounded opposition by the State of Connecticut. It’s a tragic loss, but probably won’t be the last one we suffer before we finish the recognition journey, given the state’s political climate,” says James A. Cunha Jr., Comptroller of the Tribal Council.
The Chief attended the Eastern Pequot Tribal Nation’s 2004 Pow Wow July 24, one week before his death. His only regret, according to his sister Agnes Cunha, was that his failing health prevented him from taking part in the Grand Entry, the traditional dance ceremony that opens the celebratory part of the weekend long gathering. “As poorly as he felt, he made it a point to visit with almost every family at Pow Wow; it turned out to be his final goodbye to many of them. That’s just the kind of person he was, always sharing himself with others and never complaining,” says Cunha.
An avid fisherman, the Chief had another love in addition to his family and his Tribe: NASCAR racing. The Tribe sponsored a race car for many years and the Chief was an important part of “Crew 42,” the crew that serviced car number 42. According to lifelong best friend Al Potter, “The Chief never missed a race. He was so well-known at the Waterford Speed Bowl that they announced his illness and wished him a speedy recovery at last week’s races. This week, they’ll have to announce his passing. He was a good friend, and a man who had no enemies.”
The Tribe will honor Chief Screaming Eagle during visiting hours at their Longhouse in North Stonington on Thursday, August 5 from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. There will be a traditional Native American ceremony Friday August 6 at 11:00 a.m. at the graveside at the Riverbend Cemetery in Westerly, Rhode Island, where the last seven generations of the family are buried. The Tribe will watch over a ceremonial fire on the reservation until after the burial. The Chief will be buried with his traditional war bonnet, a gift from his extended family given to him when he became chief.
In lieu of flowers there has been a trust fund set up for his wife, Jean Williams. Please send donations to James A. Cunha Jr. Trustee for Jean Williams, at Post Office Box 370, North Stonington, Connecticut 06359