Meet Native America: Francis Gray, Chairman of the Piscataway Conoy Tribe

"In the interview series Meet Native America, the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian invites tribal leaders, cultural figures, and other interesting and accomplished Native individuals to introduce themselves and say a little about their lives and work. Together, their responses illustrate the diversity of the indigenous communities of the Western Hemisphere, as well as their shared concerns, and offer insights beyond what’s in the news to the ideas and experiences of Native peoples today." 
-Dennis Zotigh, NMAI 

Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell (Northern Cheyenne) and Piscataway Conoy Tribal Chairman Francis Gray
at the Tribal Leader Reception during the White House Tribal Nations Conference.
Image Courtesy of National Museum of the American Indian's Blog.

"Where is your tribal community located?

Currently our main core is located within the southern region of Maryland in Charles, Prince Georges, St. Mary’s, and Calvert counties.

Where is your tribe originally from?

We are the people from where the waters blend. This encompasses all of the area on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay from our northern boundary of the Patapsco River watershed (just south of Baltimore) extending south and west to the Potomac River watershed (to include the Virginia, District of Columbia, and Maryland tributary creeks) and west to the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains."

To read the full interview, click here.

The Piscataway Conoy Tribe's website.