The tribe plans to build a casino workforce training center on one of the Richmond land parcels.

“We want to ultimately get off federal grant programs and have the financial independence to provide our own health care, housing, education and jobs for our tribal members,” said Gray, “and also to help the community.” The law says that casino revenues must be used to provide for the general welfare of the tribe and help fund operations in neighboring cities or counties. “We want to partner with Virginia state tourism, attract out-of-state visitors, and increase tourism to these areas.” “The key here is ‘destination resorts,’” said Pamunkey Chief Robert Gray.

The Pamunkey recently unveiled specifics on the $350-million casino resort in Richmond, and a $700-million casino resort along the Norfolk waterfront, which Norfolk already has agreed to.

And as a 2012 report to Congress on Indian gaming stated, “Increasingly, states have demanded significant revenue sharing and non-gaming concessions in exchange for class III compacts.” If tribes want to pursue a commercial route to gaming-that is, operate outside of tribal land-they must negotiate revenue-sharing deals with the state. Tribes may regulate their own low-stakes gaming like bingo, but they can’t engage in class III, Las Vegas-style gaming such baccarat, blackjack or slot machines without tribal and NIGC approval. It allows federally recognized tribes to conduct gaming on land that has been taken into trust by the federal government-but only if that land is located in states that have legalized the class of gambling that will be offered. The law established the National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC), an independent agency, to oversee Indian gaming and ensure tribes stick to the rules. The 1988 Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) divided gaming into three classes, setting regulatory standards for each. Undated photo shows Pamunkey Chief Robert Gray inside the restored one-room schoolhouse on the Pamunkey Indian Reservation in Kent County, Va.

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