Taffy Abel was the flag bearer at the first Winter Olympic Games in 1924. The Indigenous hockey player went on to play in the NHL. Jones Family Collection
Forty-eight stars and 13 stripes swayed as Clarence “Taffy” Abel, an ice hockey player from Sault Ste Marie, Michigan, walked the streets of Chamonix, France, holding the American flag at the first-ever Winter Olympic Games in 1924. Abel was the first Indigenous athlete to medal at the Winter Olympics. His heritage was a secret to most. Abel passed for white.
Nearly a century later, Abby Roque, 24, made her Olympic debut at the 2022 Beijing Games as part of the U.S. women’s ice hockey team. Roque, a Wahnapitae First Nation member, is the first Indigenous player on Team USA’s women’s hockey roster and the team’s only BIPOC player.
“I never processed how few Indigenous players are actually playing hockey around the world,” Roque told ESPN’s Emily Kaplan. “Back home, there were so many Indigenous players around, and now I’m sitting…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at www.espn.com – NHL…