CHIEF, PAMUNKEY INDIAN TRIBE, KING WILLIAM COUNTY
CHIEF, PAMUNKEY INDIAN TRIBE, KING WILLIAM COUNTY
Virginia Business// August 29, 2022//
Gray’s grandparents moved to Philadelphia in the 1920s to escape racism in Virginia. Even so, Gray still got a taste of life at their former home, the 1,600-acre Pamunkey Indian Reservation in King William County, when his family visited there on holidays and in the summers.
Gray, who holds a bachelor’s degree in physical therapy from the University of Central Arkansas, is a U.S. Air Force veteran who served on active duty from 1976 to 1982 and in the Virginia Air National Guard from 1986 to 2011. He deployed for several overseas combat tours, including Operation Iraqi Freedom, and retired as a chief master sergeant. From 2010 to 2013, he worked as a civilian logistics management specialist for the Air Force.
Gray moved to the Pamunkey reservation in 1988. After numerous years serving on the Pamunkey Tribal Council, Gray became chief in 2015.
Gray frequently appears in the media to discuss the $500 million HeadWaters Resort & Casino his tribe plans to open at Norfolk’s Harbor Park with Tennessee billionaire Jon Yarbrough in 2024. The tribe plans to open a temporary casino in spring 2023.
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