Aurelius H. Piper, Sr. (Chief Big Eagle) was born on August 31, 1916. He assumed the role of hereditary chief of the Golden Hill Tribe of the Paugussett Nation in 1959 from his mother, Chieftess Rising Star. In his early life, Chief Big Eagle served in the United States military during WWII as part of the North African Campaign. It is presumed that Chief Big Eagle has ten biological children across at least two marriages and two adopted children. In addition to acting as Chief, Piper owned a trucking company for forty years. As Chief, he traveled both domestically and internationally representing the Golden Hill Paugussetts, and championing Indigenous rights. Chief Big Eagle founded the White Buffalo Society, a federally registered non-profit, inter-tribal organization. The organization’s seal can be seen on several of the letters Chief Big Eagle wrote to his friend, Saygo. He also founded the American Indian Prison Project, a group that provides Indigenous inmates access to traditional spiritual rituals such as smudging and sweat lodges. Chief Big Eagle references his visits to various prisons across the collection.

In 1985, Chief Big Eagle co-authored "Quarter Acre of Heartache" with Claude Smith detailing the story of the Paugussett nation and their fight to save the Nation’s small parcel of land, which constitutes a quarter acre. In the fight to be recognized, the Paugussetts filed claims to more than 700,000 acres of land, setting off a flurry of legal challenges. The land claims, which stretched from Middletown to Wilton, Connecticut, and from Greenwich, Connecticut through lower Westchester County in New York, were eventually dropped but could have been revived if the tribe had received federal recognition.

Chief Big Eagle died on August 3, 2008 at the age of 92 from natural causes. Piper's son, Aurelius H. Piper Jr., who is also known as Chief Quiet Hawk assumed the title of hereditary chief from his father.