Western Niantic Tribe
The Western Niantic Indians, an Algonquian tribe, originally inhabited the Connecticut coast from Niantic Bay to the Connecticut River. Historically linked to the Rhode Island Niantic, they were fragmented by the Pequot invasion. Their chief village was located near present-day Niantic. The tribe faced near annihilation during the Pequot War in 1637 and subsequently fell under Mohegan rule. By 1761, their numbers had dwindled significantly, and they eventually assimilated into other tribes, with traces of their lineage persisting among mixed descendants.